Ishmael Bernal

Ishmael Bernal
Born	(1938-09-30)September 30, 1938 Manila, Commonwealth of the Philippines
Died	June 2, 1996(1996-06-02) (aged 57) Quezon City, Philippines
Occupation	Film director
Awards	Pambansang Alagad ng Sining ng Pilipinas

Ishmael Bernal (30 September 1938 – 2 June 1996) 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 was declared a National Artist of the Philippines in 2001.

Biography

Born in Manila on 30 September 1938, Bernal was the son of Elena Bernal and Pacifico Ledesma.^[1] 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 Insititue of India in Poona under the Colombo plan scholarship. An active pariticipant 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.^[1]

As an artist

Ishmael Bernal truly loved the arts. He nurtured his passion for literature and theater by actively participating in the U.P. Dramatic Club while finishing a college degree. He was also an avid fan of classical music including opera. During the 1960s, Bernal put up When It's A Grey November In Your Soul, in Malate which became one of the favorite watering holes of Manila's artists and intellectuals. Unfazed by its short-lived success, Bernal put up Kasalo in Quezon City three decades later, which became the hang-out of students, journalists, poets, bands, theater and film artists.^[1]

As a film director

Bernal directed and wrote his first film, Pagdating Sa Dulo (At The Top), in 1971. In this film we catch a glimpse into what Ishmael Bernal's ouvre would prefigure for the industry: it is a scene showing an aspiring actress (played by Rita Gomez) pondering on dreams blooming in deserts of desolation and dying out in a mirage that painfully conjures images of squatter colonies and sordid lives. The bold star stares out into the landscape and scans it, with the camera acting as her surrogate, but finally framing her against the embarrassingly majestic Cultural Center of the Philippines. The scene captures 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 like El Vibora (The Viper), and the Bonifacio episode in the unreleased Lahing Pilipino (The Filipino Race); sophisticated comedies like Tisoy (Mestizo), Pabling (Playboy), Working Girls I and Working Girls II; experimental films like Nunal Sa Tubig (Speck In The Water) and Himala (Miracle); and contemporary dramas exploring human psyches and social relationships, such as Ligaw Na Bulaklak (Wildflower), Mister Mo, Lover Boy Ko (Your Husband, My Lover), Ikaw Ay Akin (You Are Mine), Relasyon (The Affair), Aliw (Pleasure) and the film classic Manila By Night (or City After Dark). His sturdy filmography is mainly clustered around the themes and problems that inevitably encrust the "social" as the core of personal malaise.^[1]

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. For example, Relasyon, Hinugot Sa Langit (1985), and Working Girls. Before Bernal died in Quezon City on 2 June 1996, he was scheduled to direct a film about the life story of Lola Rosa Henson, the comfort woman during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines.^[1]

In Philippine television

Aside from film, Bernal also directed television shows like the long-time drama series Ang Makulay Na Daigdig ni Nora (The Colorful World of Nora) for which he was named Outstanding Director in a Drama Series by the Patas Awards in 1979; Metro Magazine, Isip Pinoy, Dear Teacher and episodes for PETABISYON and Lorna. As an actor, he played lead roles in stage plays like Kamatayan Sa Isang Anyo Ng Rosas (Death in the Form of a Rose) in 1991 and Bacchae in 1992.^[1]

Bernal is a tireless and committed educator. He taught film direction to film students of the University of the Philippines and Polytechnic University of the Philippines. He has conducted film and theater workshops and directed plays for school-based theater groups. He has also collaborated with artists from different regions through BUGKOS, the national coordinating center for people's art and literature. A real art crusader, he supported and co-facilitated workshops and critic sessions for aspiring writers until his last days.^[1]

Achievements

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).^[1]

Bernal also won the CMMA Best Director Award (1983), the Bronze Hugo Award in the Chicago International Film Festival (1983) for the movie Himala. The Cultural Center of the Philippines presented him the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining for film in 1990. In 1993, he received the ASEAN Cultural Award in Communication Arts in Brunei Darrussalam.^[1]

Bernal, the daring artist, bohemian, and activist, undermined the established canons of the Philippine popular movies from within, created a void, and then filled it with cinematic excess, an hysteria that was illuminating and iridescent.^[1]

In New York City

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.^[2]

A summary of his filmography (1971–1994)

• [1971] Pagdating sa Dulo (On Reaching the End)
• [1971] Daluyong! (Wave)
• [1971] Pito ang Asawa Ko (I Have Seven Wives)
• [1972] El Vibora (The Viper)
• [1972] Inspiration
• [1972] Till Death Do Us Part
• [1972] Si Popeye Atbp. (Popeye and Others)
• [1973] The Sleeping Dragon
• [1974] Scotch on the Rocks to Remember
• [1974] Black Coffee to Forget (Unreleased)
• [1974] Huwag Pamarisan! Mister Mo... Lover Boy Ko! (Don't Imitate: Your Husband, My Lover)
• [1975] Lumapit... Lumayo ang Umaga (Morning Came, Went)
• [1975] Babaeng Hiwalay sa Asawa (Anna Karenina) (Woman Who's Separated From Her Husband)
• [1976] Nunal sa Tubig (Speck on the Water)
• [1976] Bonifacio (segment of Lahing Pilipino)
• [1976] Walang Katapusang Tag-araw (Endless Summer)
• [1977] Ligaw na Bulaklak (Wildflower)
• [1977] Tisoy (Mestizo)
• [1977] Dalawang Pugad... Isang Ibon (Two Nests, One Bird)
• [1978] Lagi na Lamang Ba Akong Babae? (Will I Always Be Just a Woman?)
• [1978] Isang Gabi sa Iyo... Isang Gabi sa Akin (A Night With You, A Night With Me)
• [1978] Ikaw ay Akin (You're Mine)
• [1979] Menor de Edad (Underage)
• [1979] Boy Kodyak
• [1979] Bakit may Pag-ibig Pa? (Why Is Love Still There?)
• [1979] Aliw (Entertainment)
• [1979] Salawahan (Two-Timer)
• [1980] Good Morning Sunshine
• [1980] Sugat sa Ugat (Wound in the Veins)
• [1980] City After Dark (originally entitled Manila by Night)
• [1980] Girlfriend
• [1981] Pabling (Playboy)
• [1982] Ito Ba ang Ating mga Anak? (Are These Our Kids?)
• [1982] Galawgaw (Busybody)
• [1982] Relasyon (Affair)
• [1982] Hindi Kita Malimot (I Can't Forget You)
• [1982] Himala (Miracle; also "Miracle on the Hill")
• [1983] Broken Marriage
• [1984] Working Girls
• [1984] Pridyider (segment of Shake, Rattle, and Roll)
• [1985] Gamitin Mo Ako (Use Me)
• [1985] Hinugot sa Langit (Taken from Heaven)
• [1986] The Graduates
• [1987] Working Girls 2
• [1987] Pinulot Ka Lang Sa Lupa (You Were Just Picked Off the Ground)
• [1988] Nagbabagang Luha (Burning Tears)
• [1989] Pahiram ng Isang Umaga (Lend Me a Morning)
• [1992] Mahal Kita, Walang Iba (I Love You, No One Else)
• [1994] Wating (Streetsmart)

Awards

References

Footnotes

See also

1. Brocka-Bernal: Alaala ng mga Artista ng Bayan, December 1996

External links

• Ishmael Bernal at IMDB

National Artists of the Philippines
Pambansang Alagad ng Sining ng Pilipinas
Architecture	1973 Juan Nakpil 1976 Pablo Antonio 1990 Leandro Locsin 2003 Ildefonso P. Santos Jr. 2014 Jose Maria Zaragosa
Cinema	1982 Gerardo de León 1991 Ishmael Bernal 1997 Lino Brocka 2003 Eddie Romero 2006 Fernando Poe Jr. 2009 Manuel Conde
Dance	1973 Francisca R. Aquino 1976 Leonor Orosa 1988 Lucrecia Reyes 2006 Ramon Obusan 2014 Alice Reyes
Fashion	2006 Ramon Valera
Historical literature	1997 Carlos Quirino
Literature	1973 Jose Garcia Villa 1973 Amado V. Hernandez 1976 Nick Joaquin 1982 Carlos P. Romulo 1990 Francisco Arcellana 1990 N. V. M. Gonzalez 1992 Rolando Tinio 1999 Edith Tiempo 2001 F. Sionil José 2003 Virgilio S. Almario 2003 Alejandro Roces 2006 Bienvenido Lumbera 2009 Lazaro Francisco 2014 Cirilo F. Bautista
Music	1973 Antonio Molina 1976 Jovita Fuentes 1987 Atang de la Rama 1988 Antonio Buenaventura 1988 Lucrecia Kasilag 1991 Lucio D. San Pedro 1997 Levi Celerio 1997 Felipe de Leon 1997 José Maceda 1999 Ernani Cuenco 1999 Andrea Veneracion 2014 Ramon Santos 2014 Francisco Feliciano
Theater and films	1976 Lamberto V. Avellana 1997 Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero 1997 Rolando Tinio 1999 Daisy Avellana 2001 Severino Montano 2003 Salvador Bernal
Visual arts	1972 Fernando Amorsolo 1973 Botong Francisco 1973 Guillermo Tolentino 1976 Napoleon Abueva 1976 Victorio C. Edades 1981 Vicente Manansala 1990 Cesar Legaspi 1991 Hernando R. Ocampo 1997 Arturo R. Luz 1999 J. Elizalde Navarro 2001 Ang Kiukok 2003 José T. Joya 2006 BenCab Cabrera 2006 Abdulmari Asia Imao 2009 Federico Aguilar Alcuaz 2014 Francisco Coching
National Commission for Culture and the Arts Cultural Center of the Philippines National Arts Center