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<img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources/lamberto-avellana-t.webp" alt="Lamberto Vera Avellana" />
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(Lamberto Vera Avellana)
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Avellana, the so-called Boy Wonder of the Philippine Movies and a prominent film and stage director, made his film debut in 1939 with "Sakay," a biopic on the early 20th century Filipino revolutionary <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/599/today-in-philippine-history-september-13-1907-macario-sakay-was-hanged" class="news_link">Macario Sakay</a>.
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Directing more than 70 films in a career that spanned six decades, Avellana's films - "Anak Dalita" (1956) and "Badjao" (1957), attained international acclaim and stood as his most prominent works despite budgetary limitations that hampered the post-war Filipino film industry.
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"Anak Dalita," which was named Best Film at the 1956 Asia-Pacific Film Festival, was a realistic portrayal of poverty-stricken Filipinos coping with the aftermath of World War II.
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"Badjao" was a love-story among the sea-dwelling Badjaos, an indigeneous Filipino people hailing from Mindanao. Rolf Bayer was the screenwriter for both films.
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Avellana was also known as the first Filipino filmmaker who directed "Kandelerong Pilak" - the first Philippine film ever shown at the Cannes International Film Festival - as well as founder of the first Philippine theater group, the Barangay Theater Guild (1939).
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On December 30, 1990, Avellana directed the first live reenactment of <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1387/today-in-philippine-history-december-30-1896-dr-jose-rizal-was-shot-in-bagumbayan" class="news_link">Jose Rizal's execution</a> held on Rizal Day at the Rizal Park.
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Avellana married his teenage sweetheart Daisy Hontiveros, an actress who eventually also became a National Artist in 1999.
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He died on April 25, 1991 at the age of 76.
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Source:
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<ol class="article-sources">
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Philippine News Agency archives
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February 12, 1915: Lamberto Vera Avellana was born in Bontoc, Mountain Province