1997 National Artist for Film

Lino Brocka Catalino Ortiz Brocka b. Pilar, Sorsogon 7 April 1939 ; d. Quezon City 22 May 1991

While pursuing a bachelor of arts degree in English literature at the University of the Philippines, Lino Brocka became a very active member of the UP Dramatic Club as he was keen on becoming an actor. After a stint as a missionary in Hawaii, he joined the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) and soon became its executive director. He also penned and directed episodes for the television shows Balintataw, Lino Brocka Presents, Hilda, Tanghalan and others. The first film he directed, Wanted: Perfect Mother, was a box-office success in 1970. After a string of hits, he was disgusted with rampant commercialism of local films and temporarily left the industry in 1972. He bounced back in 1974 with a production he formed with his friends. He megged Tinimbang Ka Nguni't Kulang - a daring motion picture that proved to be a landmark in the then wasteland of Philippine movies. His films were soon being screened to international acclaim. These include Insiang (Directors' Fortnight, Cannes, 1977), Jaguar (Main Competition, Cannes, 1980), Bona (Directors' Fortnight, Cannes, 1981), Cain At Abel (Main Competition, San Sebastian, 1982), Angela Merkado (Grand Prix, Festival of Three Continents, Nantes, 1983), Bayan Ko: Kapit Sa Patalim (Main Competition, Cannes, 1984; Best Picture of the Year, British Film Institute, 1984; Official Philippine Entry, Academy Awards, USA, 1985), Orapronobis (Directors' Fortnight, Cannes, 1989). Brocka was against censorship and repression in all its forms. He was very active in the Free the Artist Movement which evolved into the Concerned Artists of the Philippines. He also spearheaded the founding of the Director's Guild of the Philippines. In 1997, he was conferred the posthumous distinction of National Artist for Film that fitly caps the innumerable awards he bagged in his lifetime. More than six years after his untimely demise, he remains the most acclaimed filmmaker in the history of Philippine cinema.

INSIANG

In the history of Philippine movies, no other director could match Brocka's record in terms of garnered accolade and recognition. Certainly one of Philippine cinema's most recognizable auteurs, he proved to be a most consummate artist in the truest sense of the word. Such had been the intensity and immensity of Brocka's dedication to his art that he fought and struggled for his rights to practice and nourish it. At the time that it was very precarious to be so, he was one of the staunchest defenders of creative freedom. He yearned and yelled for freedom in casting fiery images on screen as much as in the conduct of his everyday life. He was a social critic in his capacity both as a filmmaker and as a private individual. His films are replete with characters whose doomed lives are forged in the furnace of oppression. In reel or real terms, he actually took cudgels for them and carried the torch of seeking change and redemption.

It could not be overly stated that a very basic correlation exists between Brocka's art and life on one hand and the nation's date with destiny on the other. Thus, it is most fitting that he is hailed as national artist in between the twin observance of the centennials of Philippine revolution and Philippine independence. It is the spirit of both momentous instances in the history of Philippine nationhood that had always energized Brocka's cinematic pursuit.

TINIMBANG KA NGUNIT KULANG

(UPshots 3: Free the Artist!, February 1998)

FILMOGRAPHY
1970 - 1991