Kidlat Tahimik
| Kidlat Tahimik | |
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Kidlat Tahimik (right) and his son Kidlat de Guia
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| Born | Eric de Guia October 3, 1942 Baguio, Benguet, Commonwealth of the Philippines |
| Nationality | Filipino |
| Occupation | movie director, film maker, writer and actor |
Eric de Guia (born October 3, 1942 in Baguio City, Philippines), better known as Kidlat Tahimik (a Tagalog translation of "silent lightning"), is a film director, writer and actor whose films are commonly associated with the Third Cinema movement through their critiques of neocolonialism.
One of the most prominent names in the Filipino film industry, he has garnered various accolades locally and internationally, including a Plaridel honorarium for Independent Cinema. He is dubbed by fellow filmmakers and critics as the "Father of Philippine Independent Cinema".
Contents
Education
Tahimik attended the University of the Philippines,[1] where he was a member of the Student Council, then known as the University Student Union, from 1962 to 1963. While attending the university he became a member of the Upsilon Sigma Phi fraternity.
Kidlat Tahimik studied at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, earning a Master in Business Administration, and worked as a researcher for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris from 1968 to 1972.[2]
Influences
Tahimik grew up in Baguio City, Philippines, a summer resort community established in the presence of several U.S. Military bases. This experience was a weighty influence on the themes of his films, most notably the semi-autobiographical Perfumed Nightmare (1977) and Turumba (1981).
The latter of these two films provides some insight into the circumstances that brought him to Europe and into the presence of filmmaker Werner Herzog, who along with director Francis Ford Coppola and his American Zoetrope studio, was instrumental in helping to release Perfumed Nightmare.
Personal life
Kidlat lives in a 4-storey home in Benguet, Philippines with his wife, German artist and writer Katrin De Guia, and their children.
In February 2004 a fire was reported to have spread in their home. The family was able to escape safely, but the director's film stock and collection of art and artifacts were destroyed.[3]
Filmography
Director
- Mababangong bangungot ["Perfumed Nightmare"] (1977)
- Turumba (1981)
- Sinong lumikha ng yoyo? Sinong lumikha ng moon buggy? (1982)
- Orbit 50: Letters to My 3 Sons (1992)
- Why is Yellow Middle of Rainbow? (1994, also known as I am Furious Yellow)
- Japanese Summers of a Filipino Fundoshi (1996)
- Our Film – Grimage to Guimaras (2006)
- BUBONG! (Roofs of the World! UNITE!) (2006)
- Memories of Overdevelopment 1980–2010 (1980–2010)
- Balikbayan #1 Memories of Overdevelopment Redux III (2015)
Writer
- Mababangong bangungot ["Perfumed Nightmare"] (1977)
- Turumba (1981)
Producer
- Mababangong bangungot ["Perfumed Nightmare"] (1977)
- Abong: Small Home (2003)
Actor
- Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle (Every Man for Himself and God Against All) (1974)
- Mababangong bangungot ["Perfumed Nightmare"] (1977)
- Jag rodnar ["I Am Blushing"] (1981)
- Smaragd (1987)
- Jose Rizal (1998)
- Abong: Small Home (2003)
Awards
- Berlin Film Festival International Critics Award: Perfumed Nightmare (1977)
- Mannheim Film Festival Top Cash Award: Turumba (1981)
- Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize Laureate, Arts and Culture Prize (2012)
- Berlin Film Festival Caligari Award: Balikbayan #1 Memories of Overdevelopment Redux III (2015)
References
External links
- Website of first complete Kidlat Tahimik retrospective in Berlin 2016
- Kidlat Tahimik at the Internet Movie Database
- The Philippine Movie Database: Kidlat Tahimik
- Homegrown: Kidlat Tahimik
- Interview with Tahimik on eRenlai.com
- The-Artists.org: Kidlat Tahimik
- American Zoetrope Films
- 2010 Taiwan International Documentary Festival Focus Director
- Laureates, 2012 Fukuoka Asian Culture Prizes
