LINO BROCKA - A FILIPINO MATTERS TRIBUTE

The call for more realistic themes in Philippine films was answered by stage and movie director Lino Brocka. His fresh ideas featured contemporary scenes and brought the film closer to its audience.

This enabled him to capture the Filipino viewing public making him one of the greatest directors ever in Philippine cinema.

Born in Sorsogon, Lino became an avid fan of Hollywood movies and became fascinated in American lifestyle and movie plots. Graduated with honors, he gained a scholarship at the University of the Philippines and took a pre-law course.

He became part of the UP Dramatic Club not as an actor, because of his provincial accent, but as a stagehand pulling curtains. However, his actual directing career started when a friend introduced him to the founder of the Philippines Educational Theater Association (PETA).

He proved his skills in his first movie direction, Wanted: Perfect Mother, a plot based from The Sound of Music. An entry to the Manila Film Festival, the movie gained awards and made a name for him in the industry.

Most of his movies soon won awards for Best Screenplay and Best Director. Aware and sensitive of the times, Brocka made movies that tackled sensitive socio-cultural issues, the struggles of the urban poor and the people’s perspectives of government, among many others.

His movies were acclaimed in the country and abroad. Among his noteworthy classics are Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag, a story of a poor man who went to the city to look for his lost love only to find her tragic fate and Insiang, a film about the life of a slum girl in Manila who was raped by her mother’s lover.

This was the first Philippine film ever shown at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival. And in the following years, his movies Jaguar (1979), “Bona” (1981) and Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim (1984) were all nominated in the prestigious Cannes Film Festival held in France.

Lino Brocka was not just an artist. He was a social activist who portrayed the life and times of the poor, the social ills and the struggles of ordinary Filipinos. He translated his nationalist passions onto film.

GILAS PILIPINAS PHOTOS DURING FIBA WORLD CUP 2014

FERNANDO AMORSOLO - PROUD PINOY TRIBUTE

Who is Fernando Amorsolo?

Fernando Amorsolo - When simplicity is beauty

Fernando Amorsolo’s paintings immortalize the simple beauty of the Philippine countryside, give the world a glimpse of the country’s breathtaking rural landscapes and introduce viewers to Philippine culture and traditions.

His masterful rendition of life in the provinces is portrayed in paintings of women and families in idyllic pristine settings with Filipino customs and traditions as the background. Indeed, the painter’s adept use of color and lighting effects are his trademark and most important legacy to Philippine art.

Amorsolo is the Philippines’ first National Artist in Painting, a title he gained by devoting his life to capture the beauty of his beloved country. His passion for painting began at 13, when he was an apprentice of Fabian dela Rosa, a painter and a cousin of his mother.

He studied at the Art School of Liceo de Manila and the University of the Philippines, before receiving a grant to further hone his craft at the Academia San Pedro in Spain.

His natural talent and his endless quest to excel in his craft allowed him to build an impressive and massive body of artworks. His most important works such as Planting Rice, Dalagang Bukid, Maiden in a Stream and the Mestiza revolved around his favorite themes of women in the countryside.

Planting Rice - Fernando Amorsolo

His paintings during World War II, which included Defense of a Filipina Woman’s Honor, The Rape of Manila and The Bombing of Intendencia revealed a deep sense of remorseful nationalism as he struggled to portray, through his paintbrush, the plight, torment and courage of Filipinos.

Amorsolo’s work is greatly appreciated in the Philippines and around the world. His exhibits in Paris, Belgium and New York at the turn of century served as lenses through which the world saw the beauty of the country and its people. Today, his paintings form part of important art collections, a testament to the artist’s mastery of the brush.

Amorsolo has raised the level of Filipino talent by receiving international recognition for his artworks. His masterpieces grew larger than life as the country craved for her distant past, a time when life was simple and everything was pristine, which are themes that Amorsolo immortalized in his canvas.