lumbera

1993 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts from the Philippines. Bienvenido Lumbera is widely acknowledged as one of the pillars of contemporary Philippine literature, cultural studies and film, having written and edited numerous books on literary history, literary criticism, and film. He restored the poems and stories of vernacular writers to an esteemed place in the Philippine literary canon. He composed librettos for musical dramas such as "Tales of the Manuvu", "Rama Hari", and "Bayani". He published three award-winning books of criticism and an anthology of Philippine literature. He moved actively in literary circles and organizations, edited journals, and contributed introductions to dozens of books written by his friends and former students. As a teacher he mentored a new generation of literary scholars imbued with his own love for the country's rich artistic traditions and languages

 These aesthetic choices are due to a confluence of a number of factors, not just production constraints, as has been mentioned earlier. Another is the venue and audience that film festivals and local universities provide, instead of the usual local popular audience. Being mainstream, the gloss is intended for the popular audience who buy tickets in commercial cinema houses. Independent cinema however has a different audience. It targets more the studentry being required by their professors to watch, therefore the academe, and also the art film enthusiasts. While mainstream cinema mainly functions as entertainment, independent cinema derives its function from being socially relevant. Thus the predilection of independent cinema for topics on poverty and social concerns not usually palatable to the popular audience. Topics that could spur debate in classes and other venues.