Ask any ordinary Filipino moviegoer who Nora Aunor or Vilma Santos is, and they are bound to at least have an idea who these people are.

But any mention of directors outside of Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal, or those who helm today’s “kilig” films would probably result in a confused stare.

This lack of knowledge of the people behind some of the country’s most important films is what “Filipino Directors Up Close” seeks to address.

Written by journalist and events and celebrity manager Bibsy Carballo, “Filipino Directors” follows the history of Philippine cinema through the life and works of its 24 most celebrated directors.

Aside from Brocka and Bernal, included in the book are National Artists Manuel Conde, Lamberto Avellana, and Gerry de Leon; 80’s favorites Celso Ad. Castillo, Mike de Leon, Mario O’ Hara, Peque Gallaga, Marilou Diaz-Abaya, and Laurice Guillen; 90’s stalwarts Chito Roño, Jose Javier Reyes, Joel Lamangan, Olive Lamasan, Rory Quintos, Cathy Garcia-Molina, Jeffrey Jeturian and Mark Meily; indie film directors Lav Diaz, Brillante Mendoza, and Raya Martin; and Eddie Romero, Philippine cinema’s “Wise Old Man” no less.

The book also features photographs and other film memorabilia gathered from sources such as the Mowelfund Film Institute, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Library, the UP Film Institute, the Film Development Council of the Philippines, and the country’s various film production outfits.

“I want this to be a primer on directors who made their presence felt from the 50’s to the present. I want it to serve as a starting point to attract readers and soon devotees to different movies seen in a different light and encourage their study of film,” explains Carballo.

A LANDSCAPE OF RP MOVIEMAKING

When Carballo first thought of writing a book in 2009, she did not set out to write about the country’s eminent directors. Rather, she had initially thought of publishing a compilation of her works, collected over the past 40 years she has spent writing.

“We sent Karina (Bolasco, publishing manager of Anvil Pubishing) sample essays. She came back with a proposal. What would be good is a book on the top ten Filipino movie directors, she said,” Carballo writes in the book’s preface. “That would be a cinch, we thought. That would only be like writing ten of the features we have been writing to this day.”

Of course, things did not turn out that way. With six National Artists for Cinema, both Carballo and Bolasco felt that just including 10 directors in the book would be a disservice to the other film directors that have made their mark in Philippine cinema throughout the years. The list ballooned from 10 directors to more than 20.

“At this point, we became more ambitious. We didn’t want a book of top Pinoy directors that didn’t at least offer a perspective of the landscape of Philippine movie making,” Carballo explains. “We decided it wouldn’t be a book that would end up in a library simply for researchers on cinema.”

The book had expanded way beyond its original inception that Carballo even had to hire a nursing graduate for a research assistant and asked a Fil-Am to introduce a “First World perspective”. Their essays on the experience of being part of “Filipino Directors Up Close” are part of the book.

Through it all, Carballo says she also had to make sure that the book would still remain accessible to readers who may not necessarily be familiar with the language of film, something to which she can relate to.

“I am a film buff, but I am certainly not a film critic,” she says. “This book is not a scholarly study that would dissect a film’s intention or direction. I leave that to the experts, many of whom I have quoted in this book.”

She accomplishes this by relating such personal anecdotes that only a film insider would be privy to. Readers, for instance, would be surprised to know that it was actually National Artist for Film Lamberto Avellana and not Lino Brocka who first exhibited a Filipino film at the Cannes Film Festival.

Another interesting story relates Ishmael Bernal’s fabled temper, directed at the Star for All Seasons herself, who was running late for a shoot.

“It was a wedding scene where Vilma would arrive in a car, get down, and enter the church. A bit player asks the director what they are to do once Vilma arrives. Bernie answers at the top of his voice for the crowd to hear ‘Itaas mo ‘yung damit mo, ipakita mo ‘yung p**e mo!’”

LANDMARK WORK

If the book’s recent launch at the CCP is to be taken as any indication, then “Filipino Directors Up Close” is certainly on its way to accomplishing its goal of introducing the industry’s most important directors to a whole new crop of young filmgoers.

“I felt glad that she wrote this very important book, which will be a wonderful contribution to Philippine film literature,” remarks Nestor Jardin, former president of the CCP. “Through extensive interviews of noted directors, she was able to contextualize their work and achievements through the various Golden Ages of Philippine cinema. This will be a wonderful resource material not just for our film students, but our students in general.”

“This book, without being intellectual, now gives aspiring filmmakers and film students a Filipino perspective to our own films, so that they are not judged against the Hollywood films,” says Bolasco. “By reading of the three Golden Ages, all of us acquire a conviction to appreciate the Filipino artistic sensibility, and gargantuan pride that we do have a movie history to look back to anytime we need to do that.”

For Carballo, the completion of the book marks the end of a personal journey for her and a milestone in the continuing journey of the Filipino filmmaker.

“This is a personal journey and discovery of the life and times of directors, many of whom I have personally met, who have often been pictured as larger than life instead of as human beings, full of fears, vulnerabilities and ambitions. I have met the veterans, watched them struggle with heavy and often outdated cameras, suffered the inconvenience of editing, and awaited with trepidation their first film. I have also met the new breed of filmmakers, who spun off their obras on the computers, relieved of the worries of film wastage and cost of production, challenged only by the limits of their creativity.

From veterans to new breed, they share this passion for creation, and in that, there is no difference,” she ends.