Lamberto Vera Avellana NA February 12, 1915 – April 25, 1991) was a prominent Filipino film and stage director. Despite considerable budgetary limitations that hampered the post-war Filipino film industry, Avellana's films such as Anak Dalita and Badjao attained international acclaim. In 1976, Avellana was named by President Ferdinand Marcos as the first National Artist of the Philippines for Film. While Avellana remains an important figure in Filipino cinema, his reputation as a film director has since been eclipsed by the next wave of Filipino film directors who emerged in the 1970s, such as Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal.

Lamberto V. Avellana
Born
Lamberto Villa Avellana

(1915-02-12)February 12, 1915
DiedApril 25, 1991(1991-04-25) (aged 76)
Manila, Philippines
OccupationFilm director
Years active1939–1982
SpouseDaisy Avellana
ChildrenJose Mari Avellana
RelativesJose Antonio Avellana
Awards Order of National Artists of the Philippines

Life

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Born in Bontoc, Mountain Province, Avellana was educated at the Ateneo de Manila AB '37, where he developed what turned out to be a lifelong interest in the theater. He taught at the Ateneo after graduation and married his teenage sweetheart Daisy Hontiveros, an actress who eventually also became a National Artist in 1999.[1]

Film career

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Avellana made his film debut with Sakay in 1939, a biopic on the early 20th-century Filipino revolutionary Macario Sakay. The film, though a box-office flop,[2] was particularly distinguished for its realism, which was atypical of Filipino cinema at the time. The treatment is the subject of some controversy today. Avellana's Sakay toed the line with the American-fostered perception of Sakay as a mere bandit, different from the current-day appreciation of Sakay as a fighter for Filipino independence. Raymond Red's 1993 film, Sakay hews closer to this modern view of Sakay.

Leopoldo Salcedo, who played Sakay in the 1939 Avellana version, portrayed Sakay's father in the 1993 version in his final film role.

Avellana directed more than 70 films in a career that spanned six decades. In the early 1950s, he coined the term "bakya crowd" (lit.'wooden clog crowd') to describe the mass audiences who went to see his films.[3] Anak Dalita (1956) and Badjao (1957) perhaps stand as the most prominent works from his oeuvre. Anak Dalita, which was named Best Film at the 1956 Asia-Pacific Film Festival, was a realistic portrayal of poverty-stricken Filipinos coping with the aftermath of World War II. Badjao was a love-story set in Mindanao between a man from a sea-dwelling indigenous Badjao family and a woman belonging to a prominent Tausug clan. Rolf Bayer was the screenwriter for both films.

On December 30, 1990, Avellana directed the first live reenactment of José Rizal's execution to be held on Rizal Day in Rizal Park.[4]

Death

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Avellana died on April 25, 1991, in Manila, Philippines, at the age of 76. [5]

Filmography

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Film (as director)

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Year Title Production company Notes
1939 Sakay Filippine Productions
1940 Alitaptap Waling-waling Productions
Inday
1941 Rosalinda LVN Pictures
Ikaw Pala
1946 Death March Filippine Productions
1947 Haciendera Corazon Roque Productions and Phils. Artist Guild
Tandang Sora
Sa Ngiti Mo Lamang Eduque Productions
The End of the Road Ateneo Alumni Association
Hagibis
1948 Pista ng Bayan Nolasco Bros.
A La Viva! Philartech Productions
Lukso ng Dugo Avellana and Company
1949 Ronquillo: Tiagong Akyat
1950 Hantik
Ang Bombero (Kaaway ng Apoy)
Prinsipe Amante
In Despair
1951 Satur
Prinsipe Amante sa Rubitanya LVN Pictures
Pag-asa
Amor Mio
1952 Korea LVN Pictures
Aklat ng Buhay
Haring Solomon at Reyna Sheba LVN Pictures
1953 Loida: Ang Aking Pag-ibig
Huk sa Bagong Pamumuhay
Hiyasmin LVN Pictures
1954 Kandelerong Pilak
1955 Lapu-Lapu
Saydwok Bendor
1956 No Money, No Honey [6]
Anak Dalita LVN Pictures
Medalyong Perlas ("Eskirol" segment)
Kumander 13
1957 Walang Sugat
Badjao
Sergeant Hassan
Rosalina
1958 Faithful
1959 Kundiman ng Lahi
Cry Freedom
1961 Bus to Bataan
1963 Death Was a Stranger Hunters' ROTC Association.
No Way Out Tamaraw Productions
1964 Scout Rangers Zultana International
1965 Tagumpay ng Mahirap ("The Boy" segment) Cinema Masters
A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino Daudem Pictures and Cinema Artists
Operation XYZ Lea Productions
1966 Claudia
1968 Destination: Vietnam Paramount-Philippines
Kumander Dimas Regina Productions
1973 Ang Bukas Ay Atin CS Films Productions
1974 Fe, Esperanza, Caridad (co-direc. with Cirio H. Santiago and Gerardo de Leon) Premiere Productions
1975 Kapitan Kulas: Ang Kilabot ng Sierra Madre Lea Productions
Ang Pag-ibig Ko'y Huwag Mong Sukatin
1977 Tadhana: Ito ang Lahing Pilipino National Media Production Center Unreleased film
1982 Waywaya Four N Films and Nard Guerrero Films & Associates

Accolades

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Year Award-giving body Category Nominated Work(s) Result
FAMAS Awards 1954

Best Director

Huk sa bagong pamumuhay Won
Asia Pacific Film Festival 1956 Best Film Child of Sorrow Won

References

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  1. ^ Cadiz, Gibbs (May 13, 2013). "National Artist for Theater Daisy Avellana dies; 96". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  2. ^ Lent, John (1967). "Movies in the Philippines". Silliman Journal (2): 459. Retrieved August 11, 2021. However, [Sakay] was a box-office flop...
  3. ^ Ordoñez, Minyong (April 14, 2000). "Bakya crowd: Filipino marketing man's pre-occupation". Philippine Daily Inquirer. The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inc. p. C5. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  4. ^ Aguino, Ana; Philippine Information Agency (December 30, 1990). "Re-enactment of Rizal's execution". Manila Standard. Kagitingan Publications, Inc. p. 5. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  5. ^ "Republic of the Philippines - Stamps & Postal History - RP Issues of 2015". philippinestamps.net. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
  6. ^ "No Money No Honey (1955)". IMDb. January 15, 1955. Retrieved October 6, 2020.

Additional sources

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