| Tikoy Aguiluz | |
|---|---|
| Born | Philippines |
Amable "Tikoy" Aguiluz is an award winning Filipino film director, film producer, screenwriter and cinematographer.
Aguiluz founded the Cinemanila International Film Festival in Manila in 1999.
Tikoy Aguiluz is one of the leading figures in the alternative cinema movement in the Philippines. A product of the University of the Philippines (Comparative Literature and Fine Arts), he is acknowledged as the co-founder in 1976 of UP Film Center where he served until 1990 as its Assistant Director and also spearheaded 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 and film archiving at the Library of Congress Film Archives in Washington, DC, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. A British Council Grant led to further film studies and training in film archiving at the British Film Institute.
He had worked in various capacities in film projects with other important Filipino directors his senior, including National Artist Lino Brocka. He first made his mark with the 15-minute documentary, Mt. Banahaw, Holy Mountain. The film won Silver Trophy at the prestigious Young Filmmakers of Asia Festival in Iran.
Tikoy plunged into full-length feature in 1984 with the acclaimed Boatman. It was exhibited at the 1985 London Film Festival where it was cited as the outstanding film of the year. It was followed up several years later in 1995 with his own version of the story of the ill-fated household helper Flor Contemplacion 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 Oscars for the Best Foreign-Language Film category. It placed 12th in the list of thirty-nine titles. The same film bagged for Tikoy the Gawad Urian (the local film critics award) for best director as well as for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Production Design and Best Supporting Actor for Albert Martinez. Segurista toured international film festivals in Toronto, Singapore and others.
Tikoy's next venture, Rizal sa Dapitan (1997) - the historical film on the national hero's poignant exile - altogether swept the Manila Film Festival. It also 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, in Mar del Plata, Argentina 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 last November in Brussels International Film Festival (Festival International du Film Independant), it was conferred the Grand Jury Prize in addition to the best actor award for lead star Albert Martinez who essayed the title role.
Tikoy has served on the jury of the Berlin, Pusan (South Korea), Singapore, Vesoul (France), Osian's Cinefan (Delhi), and Kerala in India, among others. He is the chief creative force behind the highly successful Cinemanila International Film Festival, which is now on its 13th year.
In 2003, the French government awarded Tikoy Aguiluz with the Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres for his contribution to Philippine Cinema.