Brocka’s secret love and life in Inside the Cinema Circle

MANILA, Philippines - Cinema One is all set to launch its brand-new Inside the Cinema Circle, a program dedicated to the best of local cinema with its pilot episode being no less than a tribute to National Artist Lino Brocka.

Taking the audience through the new beginning of Inside the Cinema Circle as the program’s host will be Boy Abunda. In the show’s premiere titled Mga Anak ni Brocka, Abunda will be joined by Brocka’s colleagues and comrades in a round table discussion such as Philip Salvador, Bembol Roco, Rio Locsin and Chanda Romero, in taking its audience through the legacy that the great filmmaker had left behind. Discover what Brocka was like when in love, who were the loves of his life, what he thinks of money making films and if there was any truth to him wanting his actors’ tears to fall on cue.

Even years after his passing, Brocka’s influence in local cinema remains unshakable. Truly a visionary from the very moment he set foot into the industry, his career as a director began with his first film Wanted: Perfect Mother. The first film that he directed immediately earned him an award for Best Screenplay at the 1970 Manila Film Festival.

Not too long after winning his first award, Brocka released the highly-acclaimed Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag, a film that many critics consider to be the greatest Philippine film ever made and the only Filipino film which made it to the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die by Steven Jay Schneider. For its groundbreaking nature, it received awards from the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.

Brocka’s being a mover and shaker in the industry was further recognized when his 1978 film Insiang became the first-ever Philippine film ever shown at the Cannes Film Festival. The festival also later recognized Brocka’s Jaguar, which was nominated for the Palm d’Or, and Bona which was part of the Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight the following year.

Over the span of his career, Brocka had directed over 40 films, with themes and dramatic storylines that left the Philippine audience shaken.

Brocka was never one to take the craft of filmmaking lightly. He gained the reputation of being an artist with a cause. In his own words, “The artist is always a participant. He tries to investigate the truth, no matter what forces attempt to hide it.” During the time that his films were being made, he saw the creation of as a duty to the Filipino people, saying, “Our inspiration must come from the struggles of the people. More, we must report of those struggles.”

Inside the Cinema Circle’s first episode, Mga Anak ni Brocka airs May 13 at 7:30 p.m. on Cinema One.