Ishmael Bernal

Ishmael Bernal (September 30, 1938 – June 2, 1996) was a Filipino film director and writer. He is considered as one of the most important filmmakers in the history of Philippine cinema. Bernal’s films, which include Nunal sa Tubig (1976), Ikaw Ay Akin (1978), Manila by Night (1980), Himala (1982), and Working Girls (1984), tackle feminist and social themes in a variety of genres. He was posthumously declared a National Artist of the Philippines in 2001.

Bernal was born on September 30, 1938 in Manila. He was the only child of Elena Bernal. Ishmael grew up in the Santa Mesa district with his extended family, which included writer Lope K. Santos, his maternal grandfather.

Bernal received his bachelor’s degree in English from University of the Philippines Diliman, where he became a friend of future Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria Sison. He also studied French literature at Aix-en-Provence in France. Bernal briefly owned a discotheque in Malate, Manila called When It’s a Grey November in Your Soul, before studying film at the Film Institute of Poona in India as a Colombo Plan scholar.

Upon returning to the Philippines, Bernal reviewed films for the Manila Chronicle. He was approached by actor Eddie Rodriguez about making his first feature film for his Virgo production company. Bernal came up with the satirical comedy Ah Ewan, Basta sa Maynila Pa Rin Ako! (1970), but he left due to creative differences with Rodriguez, who ended up finishing it. Instead, Bernal made his directorial debut with Pagdating sa Dulo (1971), starring Rita Gomez, Vic Vargas, and Eddie Garcia. While it was a commercial failure, it later became a cult classic.

Under his name is a broad range of film genres and themes: historical dramas like El Vibora (The Viper), and the "Bonifacio" episode in the unreleased Lahing Pilipino (The Filipino Race); comedies like Tisoy (Mestizo), Pabling (Playboy), Working Girls and Working Girls II; experimental films like Nunal sa Tubig (Speck in the Water) and Himala (Miracle); and contemporary dramas exploring human psyches and social relationships, such as Ligaw Na Bulaklak (Wildflower), Mister Mo, Lover Boy Ko (Your Husband, My Lover), Ikaw Ay Akin (You Are Mine), Relasyon (The Affair), Aliw (Pleasure) and the film Manila by Night (or City After Dark). His filmography centers around the themes and problems that inevitably encrust the "social" as the core of personal malaise.

Bernal considered himself a feminist director and admitted that it was part of his interest to tackle issues affecting women; in addition, he was part of the underground gay scene during the Martial Law era. Although some elements include themes about the LGBTQ community and their lives, a significant part of his work is stories about and for women, such as the films Relasyon, Hinugot sa Langit, and Working Girls. Before Bernal's death, he was scheduled to direct a film about the life story of "Lola Rosa" Henson, a comfort woman during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines.

Aside from film, Bernal also directed television shows like the long-time drama series Ang Makulay Na Daigdig ni Nora (The Colorful World of Nora) with Nora Aunor, for which he was named Outstanding Director in a Drama Series by the Patas Awards in 1979; Metro Magazine, Isip Pinoy, Dear Teacher and episodes for PETABISYON and Lorna. As an actor, he played lead roles in stage plays like Kamatayan sa Isang Anyo ng Rosas (Death in the Form of a Rose) in 1991 and Bacchae in 1992.

Bernal had been an activist since university, when he was a member of the Student Cultural Association of the University of the Philippines. After graduation, he became involved in Kabataang Makabayan. He protested film censorship and was part of the Free the Artist Movement and the Concerned Artists of the Philippines.

His films, including those he directed during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, were also known for bearing feminist and social realist themes.

He won the Gawad Urian Award for Best Director four times for Dalawang Pugad, Isang Ibon (Two Nests, One Bird), 1977; Broken Marriage, 1983; Hinugot sa Langit (Wrenched From Heaven), 1985; and Pahiram ng Isang Umaga (Lend Me One Morning), 1989; and the best screenplay for City After Dark, 1980.

His film Pagdating sa Dulo won him the FAMAS Award for Best Screenplay, while Himala (Miracle) garnered nine major awards in the 1982 Metro Manila Film Festival. In that same year, Bernal was chosen by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino as the Most Outstanding Filmmaker of the Decade 1971–1980. Among the 10 best films chosen by the critics, five were his. These include Pagdating sa Dulo, Nunal sa Tubig, Manila by Night, Himala and Hinugot sa Langit. He was also hailed as Director of the Decade by the Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA).

Bernal also won the CMMA Best Director Award (1983), the Bronze Hugo Award in the Chicago International Film Festival (1983) for the movie Himala. The Cultural Center of the Philippines presented him the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining for film in 1990. In 1993, he received the ASEAN Cultural Award in Communication Arts in Brunei Darrussalam.

His Nunal sa Tubig (A Speck in the Water), Aliw (Pleasure) and Relasyon (The Affair) was among the 25 Filipino films shown in New York from July 31 to August 1999, organized by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, in partnership with the Philippine Centennial Commission, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, IFFCOM, the Philippine Information Agency, the Consulate General of the Philippines in New York and the Philippine Centennial Coordinating Council - Northeast USA. This series of Filipino films were presented at the Walter Reade Theater of the Lincoln Center, in celebration of the 100th year of Philippine Independence.

He died on June 2, 1996, in Quezon City, Philippines of a heart attack. Bernal was buried at Himlayang Pilipino in Quezon City but was reinterred at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on September 14, 2024, after a state funeral.