Adolfo Alix, Jr

Biography

Born October 17, 1978, in Makati City, Philippines.

He graduated magna cum laude at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (University of the City of Manila) with a degree in Mass Communications.

He started his career as a scriptwriter for films and television. At age 18, he won First Prize in the Film Development Foundation’s (now Council) nationwide screenwriting competition in 1999. Even better, his prize-winning script, Kahapon, May Dalawang Bata, was made into a feature film by Carlitos Siguion Reyna.

His others screenplays include Gil Portes' acclaimed MGA MUNTING TINIG, (SMALL VOICES, 2002) and HOMECOMING (2003) and many others.

He also handled film and screenwriting classes at his alma mater and San Beda College-Alabang and currently teaches at De La Salle University-Taft.

His first film, DONSOL was a finalist in the 2006 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival where it won Best Actress and Best Cinematography honors. The film was screened in several international film festivals abroad and garnered Special Jury prizes in the Asian Marine Film Festival in Japan and in the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival in the U.S.A. It was also the Philippines' official submission to the Academy Awards (OSCARS) Best Foreign Language Film category.

Since his debut as a director, he has become one of the most promising and prolific young Filipino filmmakers with his other films screened at various international film festivals. KADIN (THE GOAT, 2006) Alix’ second feature, premiered in the Ici et ailleurs section of the 60th Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland and competed in the 27th Festival International du Film d’ Amiens in France.

His third film, TAMBOLISTA (DRUMBEAT, 2007) was featured in the Sturm und Drang (Cinema of the Future) section of the 37th Rotterdam International Film Festival. ADELA, his feature starring veteran actress Anita Linda, was screened at Toronto, Pusan and Rotterdam International Film Festivals. It also won in all the categories of the Young Critics' Circle Awards 2009 including Best Picture and Best Performer.

After co-directing BATANES (2007) with Dave Hukom, he disowned talents who worked on the movie when they asked him to settle their fees.

MANILA (2009), co-directed with Raya Martin and starring Piolo Pascual, was selected in the Out-of-Competition (Special Screenings) of the 62nd Festival de Cannes.

His latest work CHASSIS (2010), about a mother trying to make ends meet as she lives under the container vans in Pier 16, premiered in the Pusan International Film Festival and was screened in the Vancouver Film Festival. It is also the first Filipino film to compete in the Mar del Plata International Film Festival.

Alix has been recently listed by The Hollywood Reporter in its “Next Generation Asia 2010, which features the top 20 young entertainment personalities in the region deemed “the best and the brightest among their peers” from a vast region considered “the world’s biggest entertainment market.”

He is now working on several projects including KALAYAAN (Wildlife), which received script development support from the Hubert Bals Fund of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and PORNO, which was part of the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum.

His 2013 film Death March was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.