Kidlat Tahimik


Eric Oteyza de Guia, better known as Kidlat Tahimik, is a film director, writer and actor whose films are commonly associated with the Third Cinema movement through their critiques of neocolonialism. For his contributions to the development of Philippine independent cinema, he was recognized in 2018 as a National Artist of the Philippines for Film - a conferment which represents the Philippine state's highest recognition for artists.
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".
In recent years, Tahimik has become a noted installation artist with his works exhibited in various public spaces in the Philippines.

Education

Tahimik attended the University of the Philippines Diliman, where he was elected President of the UP 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. Tahimik studied at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, earning a Master in Business Administration. Upon his return, he founded AIESEC in the Philippines.
He worked as a researcher for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris from 1968 to 1972.

Influences

Tahimik grew up in Baguio, Philippines, a summer resort community established in the presence of several U.S. Military bases. This experience influenced the themes of his films, most notably the semi-autobiographical Perfumed Nightmare and Turumba.
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 in the United States.

Personal life

Kidlat lives in a 4-storey home in Benguet, the Philippines, with his wife, German artist and writer Katrin De Guia, and their children Kidlat de Guia, Kawayan Thor Kalayaan, and Kabunian De Guia.
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.
He owns the vegetarian cafe Oh My Gulay in Baguio, the Philippines.

Filmography

Director

Feature films

The films listed here are less than 50 minutes in length:

Awards