Full Name Amable Aguiluz Name Tikoy Aguiluz | Role Film director | |
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Born 1952 (age 62–63) Philippines Occupation Film producer and director Education New York University, University of the Philippines Movies Manila Kingpin: The Asio, Rizal in Dapitan, Paradise Express, El Brujo, Tatarin Similar People Peque Gallaga, Jose F Lacaba, Albert Martinez, Brillante Mendoza, John Regala | ||
Tikoy Aguiluz
Amable "Tikoy" Aguiluz is an award-winning Filipino film director, film producer, screenwriter and cinematographer. He also founded the Cinemanila International Film Festival in Manila in 1999.
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Aguiluz is one of the leading figures in the alternative cinema movement in the Philippines. Educated at the University of the Philippines (Comparative Literature and Fine Arts), he is acknowledged as the co-founder in 1976 of the UP Film Center (now UP Film Institute) where he served until 1990 as its Assistant Director and 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.
Aguiluz plunged into the 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 the Oscars 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 local film critics award), as well as the Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Production Design and Best Supporting Actor plums, this last for actor Albert Martinez. Segurista toured international film festivals in Toronto, Singapore and others.
Aguiluz's next venture, Rizal sa Dapitan (1997)—the historical film on the Philippine 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 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 Albert Martinez who played the title role.
Aguiluz has served on the jury of the film festivals in Berlin, Pusan (South Korea), Singapore, Vesoul (France), 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 Aguiluz the Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres prize for his contributions to Philippine cinema.