Amable "Tikoy" Aguiluz VI (born 1952) is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

film director, film producer, screenwriter and cinematographer. In 1999, he founded the

Cinemanila International Film Festival The Cinemanila International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Manila, Philippines. It was founded by Filipino filmmaker Amable "Tikoy" Aguiluz in 1999. The focus of the festival is on the cinema of the Philippines as well as Southea ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

. Aguiluz is one of the leading figures in the alternative cinema movement in the Philippines.

Career and education

Educated at the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 20 ...

(UP) with degrees in comparative literature and fine arts, he is acknowledged as the co-founder in 1976 of the UP Film Center (now

UP Film Institute The University of the Philippines Film Institute, also known as the UP Film Institute or UPFI, is a film school located in Quezon City, Philippines. It is attached to the UP College of Mass Communication and engages in theater and extension serv ...

) where he served as its Assistant Director until 1990, spearheading the association called Chamber Film Group. He was a recipient of a John D. Rockefeller III Grant to study filmmaking at the

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

and film archiving at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

Film Archives in Washington, DC and the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in New York. A

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

Grant led to further film studies and training in film archiving at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

. Aguiluz had worked in various capacities in film projects with other important Filipino directors his senior, including National Artist

Lino Brocka Catalino Ortiz Brocka (April 3, 1939 – May 22, 1991) was a Filipino film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and significant filmmakers in the history of Philippine cinema. He co-founded the organization Concerned Ar ...

. He first made his mark with the 15-minute documentary ''Mt. Banahaw, Holy Mountain''. The film won a Silver Trophy at the prestigious Young Filmmakers of Asia Festival in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Aguiluz plunged into the full-length feature in 1984 with the acclaimed ''Boatman''. It was exhibited at the 1985

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and sho ...

where it was cited as the outstanding film of the year. It was followed several years later, in 1995, by his own version of the story of the ill-fated household helper

Flor Contemplacion Flor Ramos Contemplacion (January 7, 1953 – March 17, 1995) was a Filipina domestic worker executed in Singapore for murder. Her execution severely strained relations between Singapore and the Philippines, and caused many Filipinos to vent ...

in the equally acclaimed docu-drama entitled ''Bagong Bayani, OCW''. In 1996, his film '' Segurista'' (Dead Sure) was picked as the official Philippine entry to the

Oscars The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for the Best Foreign-Language Film category. It placed 12th in the list of thirty-nine titles. The same film won the Best Director award for Aguiluz at the

Gawad Urian The Gawad Urian Awards are annual film awards in the Philippines held since 1977. It is given by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (MPP, "the Filipino Film Critics") and is currently regarded as the counterpart of the United States' New York Fi ...

(the local film critics award), as well as the Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Production Design and Best Supporting Actor plums, the last for actor

Albert Martinez Alberto Pineda Martinez (born April 19, 1961), is a Filipino actor, director and producer. Early life He was born in Manila on April 19, 1961 to Bert Martinez, and Margarita Pineda. Career Martinez began as a film actor. He took his first te ...

who played the title role. ''Segurista'' toured international film festivals in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

and others. Aguiluz's next venture, '' Rizal sa Dapitan'' (1997), was a historical film on the Philippine national hero's poignant exile in

Dapitan Dapitan, officially the City of Dapitan ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dapitan; Subanon: ''Gembagel G'benwa Dapitan/Bagbenwa Dapitan cbk, Ciudad de Dapitan''), is a 3rd class component city in the province of Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines. According to ...

. It captured the lion's share at the Philippine Movie Press Club's Star Awards and the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Annual Awards. The film was also shown at the First Philippine International Film Festival, at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

, in

Mar del Plata, Argentina Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" is a sh ...

and in Singapore. It continues its tour of world film capitals under the auspices of the Culture Committee of the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines. When it competed at the Brussels International Film Festival (Festival International du Film Independent), it was conferred the Grand Jury Prize in addition to the best actor award for lead star Martinez. Aguiluz has served on the jury of the film festivals in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Pusan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, ...

(South Korea), Singapore,

Vesoul Vesoul () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté located in eastern France. It is the most populated municipality of the department with inhabitants in 2014. The same year, the Communauté d'agglo ...

(France),

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

, and

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

in India, among others. He is the chief creative force behind the highly successful

. In 2003, the French government awarded Aguiluz the

Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and letters, Arts and Letters) is an Order (distinction), order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Ministry of Culture (France), Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the w ...

prize for his contributions to Philippine cinema. In 2013, the documentary film '' The Search for Weng Weng'' started its

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...

run. In it Aguiluz was interviewed about the actor

Weng Weng Weng may refer to: * Weng (surname), a Chinese surname * Weng, Germany, a town in the district of Landshut, Bavaria, Germany * Weng im Innkreis, a town in the district of Braunau am Inn, Upper Austria, Austria * Weng im Gesäuse, a town in the distr ...

who was the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

' first international star and a unique figure in

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ...

, being a

short person Short stature refers to a height of a human which is below typical. Whether a person is considered short depends on the context. Because of the lack of preciseness, there is often disagreement about the degree of shortness that should be called '' ...

who performs death defying stunts. On January 8, 2015, Aguiluz directorial effort '' Tragic Theater'' was released. The film is a

supernatural horror film Supernatural horror film is a film genre that combines aspects of horror film and supernatural film. Supernatural occurrences in such films often include ghosts and demons, and many supernatural horror films have elements of religion. Common theme ...

adaptation of the book of the same name, starring

Andi Eigenmann Andrea Nicole Guck Eigenmann (born 25 June 1990), professionally known as Andi Eigenmann (), is a Filipino actress, model, and social media influencer. Early life Descent and family Eigenmann is the daughter of actors Mark Gil and Jaclyn Jos ...

Christopher de Leon Christopher Strauss de León (born October 31, 1956) is a Philippine film actor and politician. He is recognized as the “''King of Philippine Drama''” has appeared in over 120 films since the early 1970s. Regarded as an "acting genius" and ...

and

John Estrada John Anthony Siason Estrada (born June 13, 1973) is a Filipino film and TV actor who has starred in a number of roles as a leading man, comedian and villain. He is a contract actor of ABS-CBN, where he remained there from 1990 to 2018 and ...

Film director

*''Boatman'' (1984) *''Balweg'' (1986) *'' Bagong Bayani'' (1995) *'' Segurista'' (1995) *'' Rizal sa Dapitan'' (1997) *''Tatsulok (1998)'' *''30 Views of Mt. Mayon'' (2000) *'' Biyaheng Langit'' (2000) *'' Tatarin'' (2001) *''www.XXX.com'' (2003) *'' Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story'' (2011) *''Superstar: The Nora Aunor Story'' (documentary, 2012) *''El Brujo (2015)'' *'' Tragic Theater'' (2015)

Accolades

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aguiluz, Tikoy 1952 births Asian Cultural Council grantees Filipino cinematographers Filipino film directors Filipino film producers Filipino screenwriters Living people