OPEN24/7: VISUAL: AWARD WINNING FILM DIRECTORS

 AWARD WINNING FILM DIRECTORS

MARILOU DIAZ- ABAYA 

(1995-2012)

 Marilou Díaz-Abaya was a multi-awarded film director from the Philippines She was the director of the 1998 film Jose Rizal, a biographical film on the Philippines' national hero.

AWARDS

Díaz is the 2001 Laureate of the Fukuoka Prize for Culture and the Arts in Japan. She has won numerous directing awards from award-giving bodies such as the Metro Manila Film Festival, the Urian Awards, the Film Academy of the Philippines, the Famas Awards, the Star Awards, the Catholic Mass Media Awards the British Film Institute Award, the International Federation of Film Critics Award (FIPRESCI), and the Network of Pan Asian Cinema Award (NETPAC).

  

 Díaz-Abaya died on October 8, 2012 succumbing to breast cancer.

 LINO BROCA

(1939-2001)

 Catalino Ortiz Brocka  is a Filipino film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and significant Filipino filmmakers in Philippine cinema history. In 1983, he founded the organization Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP), dedicated to helping artists address issues confronting the country.

  

n 1974, Brocka directed Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang (literally: "You Were Weighed but It's Not Enough"), which told the story of a teenager growing up in a small town amid its petty and gross injustices. It was a box-office success, and earned Brocka another best-director award, this time from the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS).

 
Insiang (1976) was the first Philippine film ever shown at the Cannes Film Festival. It is considered to be one of Brocka's best films — some say his masterpiece. The film centers on a young woman named Insiang who lives in the infamous Manila slum area, Tondo. It is a Shakespearean tragedy that deals with Insiang's rape by her mother's lover, and her subsequent revenge.

CELSO AD CASTILLO

(1943-2012)
Castillo started as a writer for a comic magazine. With the help of his father, he published his own magazine where he wrote all the stories from cover to cover, using different names as authors. A movie producer commissioned him to write a script on the character of " James Bandong ", named after Britain's superspy. The film made money and it was followed by a sequel, Dr. Yes, 1965, a spoof on the British film, Dr. No. He wrote and directed his first movie, Misyong Mapanganib (Dangerous Mission), in 1966.

Castillo won the FilpIno Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) awards for best director and best story for Pagputi ng Uwak, Pag-itim ng Tagak (When the Crow Turns White, When the Heron Turns Black), 1978, and also won the Urian awards for best director and best screenplay for the same picture. He shared the story credits with Ruben Nicdao, and the screenplay credits with Lando jacob, Ishko Lopez and Ruben Nicdao. He won the FAMAS best director trophy again in 1985 for Paradise Inn, a Lolita Rodriguez-Vivian Velez starrer. He also has a FAMAS best supporting actor award, for Sampung Ahas ni Eba (Ten Snakes of Eve), in 1984.

Celso Ad Castillo, died early Monday, November 26, 2012 due to a heart attack

EDDIE ROMERO

(1924-2013)

Edgar Sinco Romero (July 7, 1924 – May 28, 2013) was an influential Filipino film director, film producer and screenwriter, considered one of the finest in the Cinema of the Philippines. Romero was named National Artist of the Philippines in 2003.

His career spans three generations of filmmakers. His 1976 film Ganito Kami Noon…Paano Kayo Ngayon?, set at the turn of the 20th century during the revolution against the Spaniards and, later, the American colonizers, follows a naïve peasant through his leap of faith to become a member of an imagined community. Agila situates a family’s story against the backdrop of the country’s history.

Kamakalawa explores the folklore of prehistoric Philippines.

Banta ng Kahapon, his 'small' political film, is set against the turmoil of the late 1960s, tracing the connection of the underworld to the corrupt halls of politics.

 

His 13-part series of Noli Me Tangere brings Philippine national hero José Rizal's novel to a new generation of viewers. Along with Filipino language films, he made English language films that became cult classics, like Black Mama, White Mama and The Twilight People and worked with American actors like John Ashley and Pam Grier. Romero's films, the National Artist citation states, "are delivered in an utterly simple style – minimalist, but never empty, always calculated, precise and functional, but never predictable."

Quentin Tarantino has drawn upon Romero's film Twilight People as an inspiration for his "grindhouse" homages.

 
He died of a blood clot and prostate cancer on May 28, 2013

ISMAEL BERNAL

(1938-1996)

Ismael Bernas was a Filipino film, stage and television director, actor and screenwriter. Noted for his melodramas, particularly with feminist and moral issues, he directed many landmark Filipino films such as Nunal sa Tubig (1975), City After Dark (1980), Relasyon (1982), Himala (1982), and Hinugot sa Langit (1985).

 He won the Urian for best director four times for Dalawang Pugad, Isang Ibon (Two Nests, One Bird), 1977; Broken Marriage, 1983; Hinugot Sa Langit (Wrenched From Heaven), 1985; and Pahiram Ng Isang Umaga (Lend Me One Morning), 1989; and the best screenplay for City After Dark, 1980. His film Pagdating Sa Dulo, won for him the FAMAS for best screenplay award while Himala (Miracle), 1982, garnered nine major awards in the Metro Manila Film Festival. In that same year, Bernal was chosen by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino as the Most Outstanding Filmmaker of the Decade 1971-1980. Among the 10 best films chosen by the critics, five were his. These include Pagdating Sa Dulo, Nunal Sa Tubig, Manila By Night, Himala and Hinugot Sa Langit. He was also hailed as Director of the Decade by the Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA).