Mike De Leon

In the beginning of his career, de Leon directed two short films, Sa Bisperas in 1972 and Monologo in 1975.[3]

In 1975, he established the production house Cinema Artists Philippines. Its initial film production was Lino Brocka's Manila in the Claws of Light, on which de Leon also served as cinematographer.[2]

De Leon's first feature-length directorial work was the ghost story Itim. Tommy Abuel plays a photographer who documents the Lenten rituals of his provincial hometown. The film also served as the breakout of Filipino actress and future producer Charo Santos, who plays a mysterious young woman who piques the interest of Abuel's character.[1] Itim was a commercial flop, playing in cinemas for just one week, but received positive reviews from critics.[4]

In 1977, de Leon directed the coming-of-age romantic drama Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising, starring Christopher de Leon and Hilda Koronel.[5] The film was dedicated to de Leon's grandmother, LVN Studio's Sisang de Leon, whose centennial was celebrated that year.[2]

In the 1980s, de Leon directed several critical hits that were screened at both local and international film festivals.

After a three-year break from directing, De Leon returned with the musical-comedy film Kakabakaba Ka Ba?, which satirized Philippine foreign relations and organized religion, while also exploring youth culture. In the film, a group of friends, played by Christopher de Leon, Charo Santos, Jay Ilagan, and Sandy Andolong, have run-ins with Japanese and Chinese multinational drug rings, culminating in a musical extravaganza set in a Baguio convent.[1] Kakabakaba Ka Ba garnered the Gaward Urian for Best Director for de Leon.[6]

While his other film Batch '81 went on a production hiatus, de Leon directed the psychological horror Kisapmata. Inspired by real life events, a controlling patriarch, played by Vic Silayan, dominates the married life of his daughter and her husband, played by Charo Santos and Jay Ilagan, respectively.[1] It was the first major treatment of incest in Philippine cinema. At the 1982 Metro Manila Film Festival, the film won 10 awards, including Best Picture as well as Best Director and Best Screenplay for de Leon.[3]

In 1982, de Leon's Batch 81 was released. The film depicted harsh fraternity rituals where neophytes were subjected to violent hazing and dehumanizing tests of blind loyalty, shown through the eyes of an unnamed pledgee played by Mark Gil in his breakout role.[1]

Batch '81 was screened alongside Kisapmata at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival Directors' Fortnight. With this achievement, de Leon became the second director, and first Filipino, to have two films screened at the Directors' Fortnight.[1][7]

De Leon continued his sociopolitical commentary with the Vilma Santos-led Sister Stella L. In the midst of contemporary debate on liberation theory, Sister Stella L. told the story of a religious sister who becomes involved in a labor strike.[1] Although de Leon initially set out to self-produce the film, limited financial resources forced him to ask producer Lily Monteverde of Regal Films to step in.[1] This would be the first serious political film of Regal Films. It won 10 Gawad Urian awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and also competed for the Golden Lion at the 41st Venice International Film Festival.[8]

The most atypical[5] and commercially successful[2] of his work is the romantic melodrama Hindi Nahahati ang Langit (1985), based on the komik of the same name by Nerissa Cabral.

The Japan Foundation approached de Leon to direct a segment for the four-country anthology Southern Winds, alongside entries from fellow Asian filmmakers Cherd Songsri, Shoji Kokami, and Slamet Rahardjo. The result of his directorial efforts was the short film Aliwan Paradise, a satire exposing the Philippine entertainment industry's fascination with exploiting poverty for the international film festival circuits.[1] The film is set in a near-future Philippines where a Ministry of Entertainment calls for a national audition of entertainers. The Ministry decide that the poverty-stricken lives of two of the candidates can be exploited for entertainment. Aliwan Paradise takes off from Lino Brocka's Manila in the Claws of Light, with the main characters of both films sharing the same names.[9]

In the 1990s, de Leon was in talks with GMA Pictures, then called Cinemax, to helm a José Rizal biopic that would star Aga Muhlach. Both director and star dropped out of the project during the pre-production stage. GMA Pictures went on to produce the 1998 José Rizal biopic starring Cesar Montano and directed by Marilou Diaz-Abaya. Nevertheless, according to frequent collaborator Clodualdo del Mundo, Jr., de Leon could not let go of the idea of a film about Rizal.[10]

In 1999, de Leon directed the black-and-white mockumentary Bayaning 3rd World. The film won six Gawad Urian awards, including for Best Film as well as Best Director for de Leon.[2]

After a nearly two-decade long hiatus from filmmaking, de Leon directed, co-wrote, and produced Citizen Jake.[2]