Name: Shaina Karryl B.

Catayna Score:
Subject & Section: 12 STEM-Fe Del Mundo Date: 01/10/20

INTERACT WITH AN ARTIST

ARTIST PROFILE OF ISHMAEL BERNAL

Artist Profile Information about the Artist

Brief Biography September 30, 1938-June 2, 1996
Birth Place: Manila, Philippines
Profession: Director, Actor, Screenwriter, film maker
Parents: Elena Bernal and Pacifico Ledesma
 He studied diplomacy at the University of the Philippines and was in the
diplomatic service until he switched to filmmaking in the early 1970s.
 He directed more than 50 films over his 20-year career, most of which
were centered on social issues.
 He was declared a National Artist of the Philippines in 2001.

Education  He studied at Burgos Elementary School, Mapa High School and at the
University of the Philippines where he finished his Bachelor of Arts
degree in English in 1959.
 After graduation he worked with Lamberto Avellana's documentary
outfit before proceeding to France where he earned his Licentiate in
French Literature and Philosophy at the University of Aix-en-Provence.
 He received his Diploma in Film Directing in 1970 at the Film InsitituTe of
India in Poona under the Colombo plan scholarship. An active participant
in the struggle for artist's rights and welfare, Bernal was also a board
member of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines and the Directors
Guild of the Philippines, Inc. Until his demise, he remained part of DGPI,
an organization that studies the role of film as an instrument of
entertainment, education and development.
Major works  Broken Marriage is a 1983 drama film
 Galawgaw is a 1982 romance, comedy drama film
 Himala is a Filipino film in 1982. The film's script was written by multi-
award winner screenwriter Ricky Lee based on the story of a teenage
girl on Cabra Island in the province of Occidental Mindoro between
1966 and 1967.
 Hinugot sa Langit is a 1985 Gawad Urian Award winning Filipino
melodramatic film based on moral values.
 Manila By Night also known as City After Dark is a 1980 Filipino Gawad
Urian Award winning drama film
 Pahiram Ng Isang Umaga is a 1989 drama film
 Pinulot ka lang sa lupa is a 1987 drama film
 Relasyon is a 1982 drama film
Awards  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).
 He was declared a National Artist of the Philippines in 2001.
Style  Over the last quarter-century, he used satire to describe social and
political problems, often angering the late President Ferdinand Marcos
and his wife, Imelda.
 The scenes capture it all: the decadence of the Martial Law regime, along
with its perverse aspirations to art, has doomed the destinies of Filipinos.
From that time on, Bernal was established as an innovative and
intelligent filmmaker who would not be content with conventional
formulas of local film making. Under his name is a broad range of film
genres and themes: historical dramas, sophisticated comedies,
experimental films and contemporary dramas
 His sturdy filmography is mainly clustered around the themes and
problems that inevitably encrust the "social" as the core of personal
malaise.
 Bernal considered himself a feminist director and admitted that it was
part of his interest to tackle issues affecting women. A significant part of
his work is stories about and for women.
Critical Reception