MANILA, Philippines—Multi-awarded filmmaker Marilou Diaz-Abaya passed away at 6:30 p.m. on Monday at the St. Luke’s Hospital in Taguig City, after a five-year battle with cancer, her son Marc said. She was 57.
Only last September, Abaya posted this on her Facebook site: “The cancer cells in my brain have been reduced significantly since my radiation program three months ago. I’m off chemo for a whole month.”
Abaya also said she would just take hormone pills, which “would hopefully relieve me from the usual side effects.”
She had also planned to be “more physically active during this respite period.”
The award-winning director was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. Her health improved in 2008. Abaya’s illness returned the following year. It was gone again in 2010 and recurred in 2011. “Now it’s stage 4, but she’s fighting it,” said Marc in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer last month.
Marc, who is an actor and the frontman of the rock band Kwan, also said that “on bad days,” his mother relied on painkillers, but “on good days” she used her time to show support for her sons’ numerous endeavors.
In 2001, Diaz-Abaya was awarded the Arts and Culture Prize of the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prizes. The Fukuoka award is a highly prized honor awarded to Asians who have distinguished themselves in the field of culture. Her works “blends entertainment, social consciousness, and ethnic awareness,” according to the citation.
Her films have also been exhibited at festivals Munich, Dusseldorf and Fukuoka. Her 1998 masterpiece “Jose Rizal” was exhibited as the closing film at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City in March 1999. The film-and-video exhibit “Empire and Memory” marked the centennial of the 1899 Philippine-American War.
She was 2005 Women for Peace co-nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Born on March 30, 1955, in Quezon City, Diaz-Abaya graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, major in Communication Arts, degree from Assumption College in Makati in 1976. She obtained her Master of Arts in Film and Television from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles in 1979, and pursued post-graduate studies at London International Film School.
She was founder and president of Marilou Diaz-Abaya Film Institute and Arts Center, and film instructor at the Ateneo de Manila University.
Diaz-Abaya was married to filmmaker Manolo Abaya, with whom she had two sons, Marco and David, who is a cinematographer.—
(Source: Inquirer Entertainment by Marinel R. Cruz with Almi M. Ilagan, Inquirer Research)http://entertainment.inquirer.net/61944/famed-tv-and-film-director-marilou-diaz-abaya-dies
THE MOVIES OF MARILOU DIAZ- ABAYA (Re-posted)
Left-1980: Tanikala written by Pablo Gomez, produced by Cine Filipinas Productions, starring Susan Roces, Bobby Vasquez, Eddie Garcia and Rita Gomez.
Right-1980: Brutal, written by Ricky Lee, produced by Bancom Audiovision, starring Amy Austria, Jay Ilagan, Johnny Delgado, Charo Santos
Did you know that Director Marilou Diaz-Abaya was only 24 years old when she did Tanikala in 1980, a much delayed movie project and initial venture of Cine Filipinas? Abaya was a graduate (with honors) of St. Theresa’s College and Assumption Convent, Outstanding Coed of the Year (1973-74), Teenage Ambassador of Goodwill, Karilagan Cultural Arts International awardee for Best Artistic Stage Performance of the Year and 1976 National Press Club awardee as Most Promising Stage Actress of the year. A promising credentials indeed for the young greenhorn in the local movie industry. Abaya soon established herself as one of the country’s best and finest directors, directing among others, Brutal (1980), Moral (1983), Karnal (1984), Baby Tsina (1984), Jose Rizal (1998) and Bagong Buwan (1999).
Left- 1983 : Moral, written by Ricky Lee, produced by Seven Star Productions, starring Lorna Tolentino, Gina Alajar, Sandy Andolong, Ana Marin, Laurice Guillen
Right- 1985: Baby Tsina, written by Ricky Lee, produced by Viva Films; starring Vilma Santos, Phillip Salvador, Caridad Sanchez
1984 : Karnal, rated A by the Film Ratings Board, written by Ricky Lee, produced by Cine Suerte productions; starring Charito Solis,Vic Silayan, Phillip Salvador, Joel Torre, Cecile Castillo
Left- 1991: Kung Ako'y Iiwan Mo, written by Amado Lacuesta, produced by Regal Films’ starring Lorna Tolentino, Gabby Concepcion.
Right- 1992 : Ikalabing-Isang Utos, produced by Regal Films; starring Aiko Melendez, Gabby Concepcion, Edu Manzano, Maricel Laxa.
Left- 1996 : Sa Pusod Ng Dagat, written by Jun Luna, produced by GMA Films; starring Jomari Yllana, Elizabeth Oropesa, Chin Chin Gutierrez, Rolando Tinio, Jhong Hilario
Right- 1998 : Jose Rizal, written by Ricky Lee, Jun Lana, produced by GMA Films; starring Cesar Montano, Jaime Fabregas, Gina Alajar, Jhong Hilario, Gloria Diaz, Pen Medina
Left- 1999: Muro Ami, written by Ricky Lee, Jun Lana, produced by GMA Films; starring Cesar Montano, Amy Austria, Pen Medina, Jhong Hilario
Right- 1999: Bagong Buwan, written by Marilou Diaz-Abaya, Ricky Lee, Jun Lana, produced by Bahag-Hari Productions and Star Cinema; starring Cesar Montano, Amy Austria, Caridad Sanhchez, Jhong Hilario, Noni Buencamino, Ronnie Lazaro, Jericho Rosales
Diaz has directed at least twenty-one (21) full length feature films which include internationally exhibited films with English titles and subtitles. The partial list includes the following:
1980: Tanikala (Chains), written by Pablo Gomez, produced by Cine Filipinas Productions, starring Susan Roces, Bobby Vasquez, Eddie Garcia and Rita Gomez.
1980: Brutal (Brutal), written by Ricky Lee, produced by Bancom Audiovision, starring Amy Austria, Jay Ilagan, Johnny Delgado, Charo Santos; multi-awards from the 1980 Metro Manila Film Festival, Film Academy of the Philippines, FAMAS; exhibited at the PIA Film Festival, Tokyo.
1983 : Moral (Moral) , written by Ricky Lee, produced by Seven Star Productions, starring Lorna Tolentino, Gina Alajar, Sandy Andolong, Ana Marin, Laurice Guillen; rated A by the Film Ratings Board; 1984 British Film Institute Outstanding Film of the Year.
1984 : Karnal (Of the Flesh), rated A by the Film Ratings Board, written by Ricky Lee, produced by Cine Suerte productions; starring Charito Solis,Vic Silayan, Phillip Salvador, Joel Torre, Cecile Castillo; Multi-awards from 1984 Metro Manila Film Festival, FAMAS, Film Academy of the Philippines, Catholic Mass Media; Gawad URIAN pelikula ng dekada 80; exhibited in Sceaux,Paris Women’s Film Festival (1985); in retrospective in Munich and Dusseldorf (1999).
1985: Baby Tsina, written by Ricky Lee, produced by Viva Films; starring Vilma Santos, Phillip Salvador, Caridad Sanchez; exhibited in ASEAN Festival, Tokyo (1988).
1991: Kung Ako'y Iiwan Mo, written by Amado Lacuesta, produced by Regal Films’ starring Lorna Tolentino, Gabby Concepcion.
1992 : Ikalabing-Isang Utos, produced by Regal Films; starring Aiko Melendez, Gabby Concepcion, Edu Manzano, Maricel Laxa.
1994 : Ipaglaban Mo, The Movie (Redeem her Honor), written by Ricky Lee, produced by Star Cinema; starring nida Blanca, Ronaldo Valdez, Elizabeth Oropesa, Chin Chin Gutierrez, Sharmaine Arnaiz, Joel Torre, Ricky Davao; exhibited at the Fukuoka International Film Festival (1995), Tokyo (1995) New Delhi (1996).
1995 : Milagros (Milagros), written by Rolando Tinio, produced by Crown Seven, starring Elizabeth Oropesa, Sharmaine Arnaiz, Dante Rivero, Joel Torre, Raymond Bagatsing, Noni Buencamino; exhibited at the Film Festivals of Fukuoka, Tokyo, Pusan Munich, Dusseldorf; Gawad Urian Pelikula ng Dekada 90.
1996 : Sa Pusod Ng Dagat (In the Navel of the Sea), written by Jun Luna, produced by GMA Films; starring Jomari Yllana, Elizabeth Oropesa, Chin Chin Gutierrez, Rolando Tinio, Jhong Hilario; exhibited at the film festivals in Berlin, Munich, Dusselfdorf, Singapore, Brussels, Fukuoka, Tokyo, Pusan, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Hawaii, and others; NETPAC Award; FIPRESCI award.
1998 : Jose Rizal, written by Ricky Lee, Jun Lana, produced by GMA Films; starring Cesar Montano, Jaime Fabregas, Gina Alajar, Jhong Hilario, Gloria Diaz, Pen Medina; multi-awarded by the Metro Manila Film Festival (1998), Gawad Urian, Star Awards, FAMAS; commercially released at the Iwanami Hall, Tokyo (2000); exhibited at the film festivals of Berlin, Munich, Dusseldorf, Madrid, Paris, Singapore, Fukuoka, Tokyo, Pusan, Monteal, Vancouver, Guggenheim Museum of New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Hawaii, and others.
1999: Muro Ami (Reef Hunters), written by Ricky Lee, Jun Lana, produced by GMA Films; starring Cesar Montano, Amy Austria, Pen Medina, Jhong Hilario; multi-awarded by the Metro Manila Film Festival (1999), FAMAS, Star Awards; exhibited in the film festivals in Fukuoka, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Hawaii, and others.
1999: Bagong Buwan (New Moon), written by Marilou Diaz-Abaya, Ricky Lee, Jun Lana, produced by Bahag-Hari Productions and Star Cinema; starring Cesar Montano, Amy Austria, Caridad Sanhchez, Jhong Hilario, Noni Buencamino, Ronnie Lazaro, Jericho Rosales; rated A by the Film Ratings Board; multi-awarded by the Metro Manila Film Festival (2001); exhibited at the film festivals of Asia Society of New York, Fukuoka, Tokyo, Pusan, Hawaii, and others.
2003 :
Noon at Ngayon (Then and Now),written by Ricky Lee, produced by Star Cinema; starring Dina Bonnevie, Laurice Guillen, Jericho Rosales, Cherrie Pie Picache, Eula Valdez, Jean Garcia ; rate A by the Cinema Evaluation Board; exhibited at the film festivals of Hawaii, Fukuoka,Tokyo, San Francisco, and others.
Film Institute & Arts Center
2003 : Noon at Ngayon,written by Ricky Lee, produced by Star Cinema; starring Dina Bonnevie, Laurice Guillen, Jericho Rosales, Cherrie Pie Picache, Eula Valdez, Jean Garcia
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