FAMAS DIGITAL AWARDS
Honoring Great Achievements
Lifetime Achievement Awards
Names to Revere
The three recipients of the FAMAS Lifetime Achievement Award are deserving storytellers who remind us that artists have a role in society - to fight against injustice and make the world a better place. Our three awardees generously spent a lifetime fighting for freedom of expression and rebelling against the status quo. These three changed the broad landscape of Philippine Cinema forever.
They're our Cultural Revolutionaries.
Ricardo "Ricky" Lee
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDEE
for SCRIPTWRITING
Ricky Lee gave birth to some of the greatest Filipino films ever written; Brutal (Abaya ’81), Salome (Guillen ’81), Cain at Abel (Brocka ’82), Relasyon (Bernal ’82), Himala (Bernal ’82), Moral (Abaya ’82), Karnal (Abaya ’83), Sinner or Saint (Chionglo ’84), Private Show (Rono ’85) Macho Dancer (Brocka ’88) Gumapang Ka Man Sa Lusak, (Brocka ‘90) The Flor Contemplacion Story (Lamangan ’95), Madrasta, (Lamasan ’96), Miguel/ Michelle, (Portes ’98), Jose Rizal, (Abaya ’98), Pusong Mamon, (Lamangan ’98) Burlesk King, (Chionglo ’99), Muro-Ami (Abaya ’99) and Anak (Quintos ’00). More than classics, these are films that became allegories of the Filipino’s continuing struggle for equality and freedom.
Apart from committing his words to the screen, he generously mentored thousands of new voices with his free Scriptwriting Workshops that began in 1982. The graduates of his workshops are a veritable who’s who in filmmaking and are changing the landscape of cinema themselves.
For his vital contribution to scriptwriting, and generous spirit in mentorship, FAMAS grants Ricky Lee a deserving Lifetime Achievement Award.
Rox Lee
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDEE
for ALTERNATIVE CINEMA
The co-creator of the renowned comic strip “Cesar Asar”, Rox Lee is an original voice and pioneering animator of the independent film industry. He is one of the founding members of Animahenasyon, the country’s largest group of animators.
Acclaimed internationally, his body of work, from the line drawing “The Great Smoke” to stop-motion live shorts like “Juan Gapang” are canonical works of the alternative movement and have influenced filmmakers of the new generation. Also, a famed painter, his philosophical approach to cinema— of irreverence, non-linearity, biting humor, and social consciousness, continues to inspire filmmakers and storytellers up to this day.
For his contribution to alternative cinema and continuing to inspire uniqueness and originality in filmmaking, Rox Lee is deserving of the FAMAS Lifetime Achievement Award.
Armida Siguion-Reyna
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDEE for INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT
A legendary actress who starred in films like “Dung-Aw,” “Tahan na Empoy, Tahan,” and “Bwakaw,” Armida Siguion-Reyna also founded Reynafilms, a production company that elevated local cinema back in the 1990s. Her television work is iconic: she produced and hosted the country’s longest-running musical/cultural show “Aawitan Kita,” an important program that was instrumental in keeping alive the disappearing art of the kundiman for the new generation and inspired the broader acceptance of Tagalog songs in television and the coming OPM movement.
A fierce advocate of freedom of expression and creative liberties in film, Armida’s greatest work was her reformation of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) that had been notorious for its censorship policies before she headed the office. Her board consisted of the industry’s most credible anti-censorship personalities and her policy of protecting free expression resulted in the flourishing of independent voices during its time. Armida’s goal of industry self-regulation is still the standard principle of the film industry to this day.
For her important contribution to film and local culture, and determined resolve to fight censorship, the FAMAS grants Armida Siguion-Reyna a much-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award.