Ishmael Bernal
Ishmael Bernal (September 30, 1938 – June 2, 1996) was a Filipino filmmaker, 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 (1976), 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 September 30, 1938, Bernal was the son of Elena Bernal and Pacifico Ledesma. 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 Institute of India in Poona under the Colombo plan scholarship. An active participant in the struggle for artists' 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. This organization studies the role of film as an instrument of entertainment, education, and development. As an artist Bernal participated in the U.P. Dramatic Club while finishing a college degree and was fan of classical music including opera. During the 1960s, Bernal put up When It's a Grey November in Your Soul, in Malate and Kasalo in Quezon City three decades later, which became the hang-out of students, journalists, poets, bands, theater and film artists. 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