TIM eMagazine Vol.4 Issue 2
temporary multimedia shows (musical theater, dance, and film).
Indie master Kidlat Tahimik strongly believes that the films and
the filmmaker are one. He has continually invented himself through
his cinema, and so his cinema is as singular as the man. Kidlat has
epitomized the possibilities of alternative modes of filmmaking
and the artisanal form of production. The mode of making the film
exhibited Kidlat Tahimik’s intense independence as an artist and, at
the same time, the film itself called for Filipinos to actively live out
their independence and not allow their culture to be imperialized by
the West. Among his iconic works prized by indie film lovers are Per-
fumed Nightmare (1977) which expounds on the ambitious dream
of a simple jeepney driver from Laguna to visit the world, via his
jeepney—ending up to accept an offer to operate a chewing gum
business in Paris; and the surreal, though-provoking Bakit Yellow
Ang Color Ng Rainbow (1983).
From the 1960s until his retirement in 2015, Mañosa courageously
and passionately created original Filipino forms, spaces with intri-
cate and refined details. Through the years, he successfully and even
has published in diverse literary forms (fiction, essay, journalism,
scholarly articles, and books) across a wide range of discipline (lit-
erature, history, biography, cultural studies, and others). To date, he
has 17 published books (3 more in the press) and edited, co-edited,
or co-authored 11 books, and written numerous articles for popular
and scholarly publications.
Muzones was a Hiligaynon poet, essayist, short story writer, critic,
grammarian, editor, lexicographer, and novelist who authored an
unprecedented 61 completed novels. Some of his works represent
groundbreaking ‘firsts’ in Hiligaynon literature such as the feminist
Ang Bag-ong Maria Clara, the roman a clef Maambong Nga Sapat
(Magnificent Brute,1940), the comic Si Tamblot (1946), the political-
ly satirical Si Tamblot Kandidato Man (Tamblot is Also a Candidate,
1949), the 125-installment longest serialized novel Dama de Noche
(1982-84), etc. Hailed by his peers as the longest reigning (1938-
1972) among ‘the three kings of the Hiligaynon novel,’ Muzones
brought about its most radical changes while ushering in mod-
ernism. With a literary career that spanned fifty-three years (1938-
1990), his evolution covers the whole history of the Hiligaynon
novel from its rise in the 1940s to its decline in the 1970s.
www.
culturalcenter.gov.ph/
playfully constructed these forms and spaces into masterpieces
for both the poor and the rich. He passionately and painstakingly
advocated and developed the use of indigenous materials, bam-
boo, coconut, rattan, capiz, and various kinds of inlay and applied
all these into first class architectural finishes, furniture and furnish-
ings—in line with his philosophy that ‘architecture must suit local
conditions.’ His masterpieces included the Tahanang Pilipino (or the
Coconut Palace), internationally awarded Aman Pulo Resort which
drew inspiration from the ‘bahay kubo’, and the San Miguel Building
with its rice terrace–like green balconies and ‘tukod’ inwardly slant-
ing windows that provide natural protection against heat and rains.
An educator, scholar, essayist and fictionist, and cultural/literary
historian, Mojares is one of the leading figures in regional literature
and history. As founding director of the Cebuano Studies Center, an
important research institution which placed Cebu in the research
and documentation map, he pioneered Cebuano and national iden-
tity formation. As a leading figure in cultural and literary history, he
networked actively in many organizations. For over 50 years, Mojares
Numerology is interesting, and when
we say the number seven, there is
also an attraction to it. No, it is not in
elections, but in the Seven Outstanding
Flipinos who were bestowed National
Artists in 2018 by President Rodrigo
Roa Duterte—and were given a grand
tribute last May 16 at the Tanghalang
Nicanor Abelardo of the Cultural Center
of the Philippines.
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