ISHMAEL BERNAL

CINEMA

His melodramas,
particularly with
feminist and moral Film maker of the first
issues. His films,
including those he
order and one of the
directed during the very few who can be
dictatorship of truly called a maestro.
Ferdinand Marcos,
were also known for
bearing feminist and
social realist
themes.

Hailed as
Given the ASEAN “the genius
Cultural Award in of Philippine
Communication Arts
cinema.”
in 1993.

Four-time
Best Director Recognized as the
Director of the
by the Urian
Decade of the 1970s
Awards (1989,
by the Catholic Mass
1985, 1983,
Media Awards
and 1977)

Notable films are

His love for literature “Pahiram ng Isang
translated into a Umaga” (1989),
constant care for the “Broken Marriage”
(1983), “Himala”
aesthetic quality of
(1982), “City After
scriptwriting and the Dark” (1980), and
substance of the entire “Nunal sa Tubig”
work of filmmaking. (1976).

His artistic style Bernal’s film career was

as a filmmaker characterized by a highly
made the audience successful combination of
reflect about form and content. He was
oppression, as passionate about the
women techniques of
empowerment and scriptwriting and camera
morality, and at movement as he was
the same time,
about the use of his art to
entertained.
impart scathing social
commentary.

His Nunal sa Tubig (A Speck in the Water), Aliw (Pleasure) and Relasyon (The Affair) was
among the 25 Filipino films shown in New York from July 31 to August 1999, organized by
the Film Society of Lincoln Center, in partnership with the Philippine Centennial
Commission, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, IFFCOM, the Philippine Information
Agency, the Consulate General of the Philippines in New York and the Philippine
Centennial Coordinating Council - Northeast USA. This series of Filipino films were
presented at the Walter Reade Theater of the Lincoln Center, in celebration of the 100th
year of Philippine Independence.

https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/ishmael-bernal/#:~:text=Critics%20have%20hailed%20him%20as,beyond%20the%20confines%20of%20aesthetics.
https://www.bulatlat.com/news/3-18/3-18-ishmael.html#:~:text=The%20ruling%20classes'%20employment%20of,themes%20he%20frequently%20dealt%20with.
https://www.scribd.com/document/443770959/ARTIST-PROFILE-ISHMAEL-BERNAL