Kidlat Tahimik to receive 2009 UP Gawad Plaridel

N.B. – This is the press release of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication on the latest recipient of an annual award established in 2005 for outstanding media practitioners. Thanks to ABS-CBN News for being one of the first to post this press release.

Independent filmmaker Kidlat Tahimik is this year’s recipient of the highest award given by the University of the Philippines (UP) to a media practitioner.

He will receive the 2009 UP Gawad Plaridel for his outstanding contributions to independent filmmaking on July 10 (Friday), 2 pm at the Cine Adarna of the UP Film Institute. UP officials will give him a trophy sculpted by National Artist Napoleon Abueva. As part of the ceremonies, he will also deliver a lecture on independent filmmaking.

The event is open to the public.

Inspired by the progressive ideals of Marcelo H. del Pilar (nom de plume, Plaridel) of the reformist newspaper La Solidaridad in the 1890s, the annual award honors a Filipino media practitioner whose professional integrity and commitment to public service are reflected in his or her exemplary achievements in print, film, radio, television or the new media.

Kidlat Tahimik was chosen for his excellence in the art and craft of cinema, as well as for pioneering efforts in introducing Philippine independent filmmaking to a global audience.

His independence as an artist is reflected in the non-commercial nature of his films, inspiring budding Filipino filmmakers to follow his example and to listen to their “inner duwende (dwarf).”

He joins past UP Gawad Plaridel awardees Eugenia Duran-Apostol (2004, Print Journalism), Vilma Santos (2005, Film), the late Fidela “Tiya Dely” Magpayo (2006, Radio), Cecilia Lazaro (2007, Television) and Pachico A. Seares (2008, Community Journalism).

Established by the UP College of Mass Communication, the UP Gawad Plaridel is supported by Coca-Cola Company and Unilever Philippines.

For verification and other details, please call Irene or Lynette at 920-6864 or 981-8500 local 2668 (UP CMC Office of Extension and External Relations). You may also send an email to upgawadplaridel [at] yahoo [dot] com.