'The Michaelangelo of cinema would be (someone) growing up in Bacolod or in San Fernando or Davao City. This is good news' - Peque Gallaga
Below is the acceptance speech of Peque Gallaga, 2009 Natatanging Gawad recipient for lifetime achievement in filmmaking:
Mga kaanib ng Manunuri, mga artists at mga panauhin.
Ma-ayong gab-i sa inyo nga tanan.
Malamang ay kakaunting tao lamang ang nakaka-alam na – sa mga panahong lumipas – ako’y nagkaroon ng malalaking di-pagkaka-sundo sa mga pinili ng Manunuri na gawaran ng parangal.
Ngunit sa taong ito, nakakatawa alam ko… wala ako ni isang pagtutol sa mga napili nilang parangalan.
Mga kaibigan, ito na ang hangganan ng aking kakayahan sa ating Pambansang Wika, kaya pasensya na. Please bear with me.
The first movie I ever directed was in around 1957 when I was in High School. It was shot in Hundred Islands, Alaminos using a Standard 8 camera. Black and white. Two minutes long. It was an action movie on location and everybody in it died. I was so impressed with myself.
The second movie I shot was in Super 8. Color. I shot it in Makati. It was three minutes long. The movie featured somebody being hanged. It was a special effects movie. I shot it in sequence and edited it in the camera because I didn’t have a splicer. My family and friends were impressed. I myself remained impressed with myself because, no schools, no books, I had figured out the technology required to tell a story out of moving pictures.
I graduated to shooting with a 16 mm camera together with Butch Perez. At the time we would use a pop song as our script and we would shoot whatever images the pop song inspired. This led to a lot of scenes of beautiful girls kissing and being kissed in crumbling cemeteries.Read more
32nd Gawad Urian winners
Best Picture – “Serbis” (Centerstage Productions)
Best Director – Brillante Mendoza, “Serbis”
Best Screenplay – Francis Xavier Pasion, “Jay”
Best Actor – Ronnie Lazaro, “Yanggaw”
Best Actress – Mylene Dizon, “100”
Best Supporting Actor – Coco Martin, “Jay”
Best Supporting Actress – Aleera Montalla, "Yanggaw"
Best Production Design – Benjamin Padero and Carlo Tabije, "Serbis"
Best Cinematography – Odyssey Flores, "Serbis"
Best Editing – Chuck Guttierez, Francis Xavier Pasion, and Kats Serraon, "Jay"
Best Music – Popong Landero, "Hunghong sa Yuta"
Best Sound – Romy Lopez and Eduardo Velasques, "Yanggaw"
Best Short Film – “Andong” (Milo Tolentino)
Natatanging Gawad for Lifetime Achievement – Peque Gallaga
Peque Gallaga: The compleat cinema artist in twilight
By Bien Lumbera
National Artist for Literature
THE way filmmaking is shaping up in our time, the mainstream film industry seems to be in its twilight years. The terms “dying” and “moribund” have been used, but Star Cinema and Viva Films are still struggling to come out with movies that raise hopes that the industry will yet revive. Twilight is a romantic time of day, and those hopes just might materialize into films when the nation’s economy allows such recuperation. So, it’s twilight time. And against such a romantic setting, it seems timely and perhaps imperative that tribute be paid to a filmmaker whose multiple faces justify the hopes that have been raised.
Peque Gallaga, at 56, has spent 36 years in the industry, directing 36 films, writing 22 film stories, acting in 13 movies and producing four. He made a name for himself as a knowledgeable production designer, authored stories for film and screenplays, acted in many films, and was a producer for movies. Indeed, he is the epitome of the compleat Filipino cinema artist.Read more
