Films, by their very nature of involving the viewer both emotionally and intellectually, have become the most pervasive of the mass media. They can excite to anger or lull into escapism. Especially in the developing world producers profit most by offering bland, often humorous entertainment, challenging neither their audiences nor their leaders. Thus the dichotomy between fantasy and reality widens and families, like nations, are thwarted in coming to grips with their most urgent needs. Despite many natural advantages making the Philippines potentially a prime international film production location, such standardized superficiality has inhibited artistic enterprise.
LINO BROCKA was born 45 years ago into an humble rural family in Sorsogon, southern Luzon, the Philippines. An avid movie fan, he was impressed as a youngster, in the turbulent years following World War II and Philippine independence, by the happy-endings of the usually American films. But the fantasies of pretty girls catching rich husbands and good men winning over bad were distant from his own life miseries. Entering the University of the Philippines as a working student, he sought to involve himself in drama and theater, but lacking a facility in properly spoken English he was frequently relegated to clearing the stage and moving sets. He spent nine years acquiring a good literary education but no degree.
In 1969 BROCKA returned from Hawaii, where he had been a Mormon missionary, and joined the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA). Like many other young Filipino dramatists he sharpened his theatrical skills there by writing, acting and directing. The next year he was invited by Lea Productions to write and direct a film for entry in the Manila Film Festival, and startled the local movie industry with his award-winning Wanted: Perfect Mother. He directed a string of commercial successes for Lea but script interference by his backers resulted in some movies he would rather forget. Disillusioned, he left commercial cinema and turned to teaching, directing for television and devoting himself to PETA, which he still serves as Executive Director.
In 1974, with the backing of friends, BROCKA formed his own production company. Its first film, Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang (Weighed But Found Wanting), told of an adolescent coming to manhood amidst the indifference and hypocrisy of a small town. Emboldened by this critical and financial success BROCKA went on to make a succession of increasingly mature and perceptive films, turning his cameras upon the tragic lives of young people from the provinces who become lost in city slums Through these films he has won international respect for Filipino artistry.
Insiang in 1977 was invited to be shown at the Director's Fortnight at Cannes, France, and in 1983 Jaguar was admitted to competition at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1984 Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim (My Country: Double Edged Knife), which has not yet been released in the Philippines, won a standing ovation at Cannes and was voted "Best Film of the Year" by the British Film Institute in London.
BROCKA's sensitive and artistic treatment of often tragic topics has won converts for Philippine-language productions among sophisticated theatergoers. He has also led Filipino writers and directors in demanding artistic control of their output and raised their prestige within the industry. Not a mere spectator in the unfolding drama of his country, BROCKA shows that dramatic insights can foster the awareness that makes for effective citizenship.
In electing LINO BROCKA to receive the 1985 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts, the Board of Trustees recognizes his making cinema a vital social commentary, awakening public consciousness to disturbing realities of life among the Filipino poor.
