MANILA, Philippines – Philippine cinema won’t ever be full with out ladies.
We’ve seen gifted actresses effortlessly shapeshift into any function you could possibly think about, be it the infamous kontrabida (villain), the profitable profession lady, or the doting mom — and these don’t even start to cowl all of it.
However Filipinas have been recognized to shine behind the digital camera, too. Loads of the Philippines’ most distinguished administrators, screenwriters, cinematographers, and producers are ladies.
And this version of the Philippine Movie Trade Month (PFIM) seeks to rejoice all these feminine luminaries, taking over the theme of “Pelikula at Pilipina.”
Throughout the 2025 PFIM gala night time, the Movie Growth Council of the Philippines (FDCP), led by Jose Javier Reyes, honored 5 excellent ladies for his or her work in pushing native cinema ahead. Be taught extra about their legacies right here.
Lee Briones-Meily: Energy in softness
Lee Briones-Meily is the cinematographer behind iconic movies like Tanging Yaman, Crying Girls, and Amigo. A Communication Arts graduate from De La Salle College, Meily is a quiet but robust power on set — racking up a protracted checklist of awards all through her profession.
Amongst her accolades, the 62-year-old cinematographer has gained back-to-back Metro Manila Movie Competition Finest in Cinematography awards for her work in Baler and I Love You, Goodbye in 2008 and 2009, respectively; and in addition took house a Finest in Cinematography prize on the 2017 Luna Awards for Ignacio de Loyola. She additionally gained Finest in Cinematography for Kamkam on the 2015 FAMAS Awards.
“Mula midday hanggang ngayon, unti-unti kong binubuo kung ano talagang ginagawa sa likod ng digital camera. Natututo akong tumayo with honesty, hanapin ang kwento na galing sa aking puso, [and] the reality that I wish to say within the tales that I do,” the cinematographer stated throughout her PFIM acceptance speech.
(From the previous to the current, I’m slowly piecing collectively what is admittedly executed behind the digital camera. I realized to face with honesty, search for the tales that come from my coronary heart, and the reality that I wish to say within the tales that I do.)
Raquel Villavicencio: Laying the stable groundwork
Raquel Villavicencio is aware of how one can give life to movies regardless of the place she is on set.
As an actress, you will have seen her in movies and tv reveals like Dragon Woman, Kapag Nahati ang Puso, Niño, Bisperas, and extra.
However she can be typically discovered behind the scenes, laying the muse for most of the media we deem iconic at this time. She was a frequent collaborator of the late Mike de Leon, who directed a number of the movies she wrote the scripts and screenplays for: Kisapmata, Kakabakaba Ka Ba?, and Batch ’81.
If you happen to’ve watched (and liked) the plots of movies Hihintayin Kita Sa Langit, Init sa Magdamag, Makiusap Ka sa Diyos, Saan Ka Man Naroroon, Palimos ng Pag-ibig, and The Promise, to call just a few, you might have Villavicencio to thank.
Throughout her acceptance speech, Villavicencio credited her success as a author, manufacturing designer, and actress to the massive neighborhood of ladies within the native movie trade who’ve rallied behind her all these years, amongst them being director Laurice Guillen, Mom Lily Monteverde of Regal Leisure Inc., and Emilia Blas of Lea Productions.
Gina Alajar: Uplifting tales of ladies, by ladies
Whether or not you favor tv over films and vice versa, it’s onerous to overlook Gina Alajar’s presence.
She’s been in over 100 sequence and movies as an actress, starting her profession when she was simply an 8-year-old woman who wished to showcase her appearing chops in entrance of the digital camera. Ethical, Sister Stella L., Bulaklak sa Metropolis Jail, Biktima, José Rizal, Mano Po, Pieta, Amaya, Sana Ngayong Pasko — these don’t even start to scratch the floor of her intensive appearing credit.
Alajar means enterprise, and it’s not simply as an actress. She’s an achieved tv director, too.
She breathed life into the teleseryes Kadenang Kristal, Rio Del Mar, Hawak Ko ang Langit, and Walang Hanggan from the mid-‘90s to the early 2000s — to Magdalena: Anghel sa Putikan, Anna Karenina, The Half Sisters, Onanay, and Prima Donnas from the 2010s to the 2020s.
“I used to be given the privilege to develop, not simply an actress but additionally as a director. At ito po ang natutunan ko, na sa bawat function, bawat kwento, ay hindi lang para sa akin at tungkol sa akin (And I realized that each function, each story, isn’t only for me and about me). It’s for the Filipino individuals. It’s about our identification, our struggles, our resilience, our hope, and most particularly our religion,” Alajar stated as she accepted her award in the course of the gala night time.
Malou Santos: From reluctant beginner to movie manufacturing powerhouse
A embellished trade veteran making many years of impression, Malou Santos has produced movies that includes the largest stars of every era.
The steadfast popularity she had constructed within the movie trade, nevertheless, had come as a shock. Santos shared throughout her acceptance speech that she had labored as a on line casino entrance desk officer, encyclopedia vendor, and assistant financial institution supervisor earlier than her sister, Charo Santos-Concio, requested her to assist her out with the movie, Pasukuin si Waway.
Malou had contested at first, telling her sister that she had no data of how movie manufacturing labored, and she or he wasn’t even a Mass Communication graduate. However Malou finally gave in, and all it took was Charo agreeing to let her take footage with the actors on set.
Now, Santos is the guiding power behind Star Cinema — the manufacturing home that has dropped at the fore most of the Philippines’ hottest movies throughout genres — and has produced a protracted checklist of films that Filipinos from any age group would acknowledge.
There’s Labs Kita, Okey Ka Lang? (1998) that includes the timeless, iconic love staff of Jolina Magdangal and Marvin Agustin. She’s Courting the Gangster (2014) that featured some of the notable love groups of the present era, KathNiel. The Feng Shui films that helped cement Kris Aquino’s standing because the “Philippine Field Workplace Horror Queen.” And let’s not overlook the bone-chilling Patayin sa Sindak si Barbara (1995), which starred Lorna Tolentino, Daybreak Zulueta, Tonton Gutierrez, and Antoinette Taus. The checklist goes on.
Olivia Lamasan: Generational story shaper
“She birthed tales that reside in us lengthy after the credit roll. Olivia Lamasan gave us love tales with depth, household dramas with love, and characters who regarded and liked like us. She spoke the language of the Filipino coronary heart and we listened,” the opening spiel of Olivia Lamasan’s tribute video stated.
A author, director, producer, and artistic marketing consultant, Lamasan served as the author for early ‘90s movies like Ipagpatawad Mo, Bala at Rosaryo, Lumayo Ka Man sa Akin, and Mahal Kita, Walang Iba.
She would go on to direct her first-ever characteristic movie, Maala-ala Mo Kaya: The Film, in 1994. Maala-ala Mo Kaya has at all times been about telling the tales of Filipino individuals in a method that may not solely contact viewers, however would depart a long-lasting impression on them lengthy after the display goes black. Since then, it turned clear that this may be the muse of Lamasan’s storytelling.
She turned the director behind the romance movie Sana Maulit Muli starring Lea Salonga and Aga Muhlach; the household drama movie Madrasta topbilled by Sharon Cuneta and Christopher de Leon; the romcom Acquired 2 Imagine, that includes Claudine Barretto and the late Rico Yan; the romance drama The Mistress with John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo; and the emotional Barcelona: A Love Untold with Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla, amongst others.
She can be the producer behind the romantic drama Hey, Love, Goodbye, starring Alden Richards and Kathryn Bernardo, and would go on to jot down the movie’s 2024 sequel, Hey, Love Once more, which set the brand new Philippine box-office document simply over every week after its premiere.
Other than the 5 honorees, Sunshine director Antoinette Jadaone and Meals Supply: Contemporary From the West Philippine Sea director Child Ruth Villarama, additionally acquired particular citations in the course of the awarding. – Rappler.com
