As one of the pioneering figures of Filipino alternative cinema, Raymond Red is best known for projects such as the 1992 Katipunan film Bayani and the gripping short film Anino, which won the Palme d’Or for Short Film at the 2000 Cannes International Film Festival, making him the first Filipino filmmaker to take home the prestigious award. His full-length features, such as Sakay and Mga Rebeldeng May Kaso, blend historical drama with Red’s ability to weave in elements of honest social realism.
Despite his long and impressive career in Philippine cinema, Red emphasizes that his desire for filmmaking stems from one simple truth: his love of telling stories.
“I made films not to be famous, not to be loved, or noticed by people,” said the director in the latest episode of The Rolling Stone Philippines Interview. “But I wanted to use [films] to explore thoughts, feelings, ideas.”
Red also spoke of the chaos of his early days as a filmmaker in 1983, when major events such as the assassination of Ninoy Aquino, martial law, and the eventual EDSA Revolution informed his creative choices. “We were in those tumultuous times,” said Red, “‘yun ‘yung time na gumagawa ako ng films. How are we surviving this system that is imposed on us, no? Decades later, na-realize ko, ‘yun pa rin ‘yung theme ng films ko.”
You can watch Raymond Red’s episode of The Rolling Stone Philippines Interview now exclusively on our YouTube channel.
