Faculty Bio

Carlos Siguion–Reyna Department of Graduate Film Tisch Asia Phone: (+65) 6500-1751 Email: csr2046@nyu.edu Office: Room 04-08

Biography

Carlos received the M.F.A. in film from New York University Tisch School of the Arts. He trained in Judith Weston’s workshops on Directing Actors and on Script Analysis and Rehearsal Techniques.

His NYU thesis film Patas Lang (Fair Exchange) placed fourth in the narrative category of the 1989 Nissan FOCUS Awards. Twelve films and nine international awards followed, including:

• Azucena (Dog Food)—Grand Jury Award, 2001 San Diego Asian Film Festival
• Kahapon May Dalawang Bata (Yesterday Children)—Second Runner-up, People's Choice Awards, 1999 Toronto International Film Festival; Best Foreign Film, 2000 Newport Beach International Film Festival
• Ang Lalaki sa Buhay ni Selya (The Man in Her Life)—Special Jury Prize, Teddy Bear Awards, 1998 Berlin International Film Festival; Best Asian Film, 1998 Newport Beach International Film Festival
• Aangkinin Ko ang Bukas (Tomorrow Will Be Mine)—Best Movie for Television, 1996 Singapore International Film Festival
• Tatlo…Magkasalo (Three)
• Inagaw Mo ang Lahat sa Akin (Harvest Home)
• Hihintayin Kita sa Langit (I Will Wait for You in Heaven)
  

Each year from 1994 to 2000, he had at least one film exhibiting at the Toronto International Film Festival. His works have also screened in Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater, the Directors Guild of America Theater, and the international film festivals of Berlin, Tokyo, Chicago, Seattle, Sydney, Hawaii, Palm Springs, Paris, Valladolid, Shanghai, London Human Rights Watch, and Dublin.

In the Philippines, he has received ten Best Director awards from principal film industry, press, and critics' organizations, and was selected one of The Outstanding Young Filipinos (TOYF) in the field of Arts/Cinema (1995).

He has directed commercials for IBM, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, Swift’s, and documentaries including:

• At All Costs—on government fraud in the 2004 Philippine presidential elections
• Bahay na Pula (Red House)—on justice for Filipinas forced into “comfort women” status during WWII
• Payatas: Point Counterpoint—dance video on domestic violence, screened at Global Dance 2002: World Dance Alliance Festival (Dusseldorf, Germany)
  

Siguion-Reyna has taught film direction at the University of the Philippines Film Institute, the Directors’ Guild of the Philippines, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and the Mowelfund Film Institute.

He served three terms as president of the Directors' Guild of the Philippines, and is currently vice-president for external affairs of Nagkakaisang Manggagawa ng Pelikulang Pilipino (United Cinema Workers of the Philippines). He took a principal role in writing the law creating the Film Development Council of the Philippines. He is also an outspoken proponent of free expression in media and the arts.