Direk Marilou to receive Arts and Culture Prize in Fukuoka

Director Marilou Diaz-Abaya, one of the country’s leading filmmakers recently received her official notification as the laureate of the Arts and Culture Prize of the 12th Fukuoka Asian Culture Prizes 2001. In a press conference hosted by the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize Committee, the Embassy of Japan and the Japan Foundation at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel, Abaya accepted the honor and signified her attendance on the prize presentation ceremony on Sept. 13, in Fukuoka City, Japan.

The Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize Award Program give recognition to those who have contributed greatly to science, arts, and culture of Asia. Through this award program, Fukuoka City and its citizens look forward to conveying not only to Asia but to the world how one city in Asia views and values distinctive, diverse Asian cultures.

In her acceptance remarks, Abaya said that the arts and culture prize is not her achievement but an honor to be shared with the Filipino people.

"Fukuoka recognizes the heritage of Filipinos as evident in the exhibition of Filipino films like Ipaglaban Mo, May Nagmamahal sa Iyo, Jose Rizal, Muro-Ami and more. This achievement will hopefully strengthen the resolve of Filipino filmmakers to do films despite the crises the country is experience. Fukuoka is a vessel of great ideas and this is the right venue for sharing of culture and heritage."

For September Anak will be exhibited in the Focus on Asia: Fukuoka International Film Festival. "The Fukuoka Film Festival selects films to be exhibited on the basis of evocation of sensibility of the culture. A movie should be able to give insight into the people’s psyche."

Organizers of the Fukuoka Culture Prizes chose Abaya based on her films that present and evokes Filipino culture. Abaya is popular in Japan, most specially among women. Her movies like May Nagmamahal Sa Iyo are widely accepted because they present how women are empowered. "I like doing films about people whose lives are endangered, Jose Rizal, child labor, mothers, women, the elderly. Right now, I am finishing Bagong Buwan, a film about the children of war-torn Mindanao. It’s an appeal for peace, children, women and the elderly whose stories remain untold," says Abaya.

The Arts and Culture Prize is presented yearly to someone who had made an outstanding contribution in cultivating and advancing Asia’s diverse arts and culture.