Acclaimed director Carlos Siguion-Reyna fondly reminisces about his journey as a filmmaker. In an interview with Esquire Philippines, he shares that it was the brilliance of veteran director Lino Brocka’s masterpieces Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang and Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag that ignited his passion for cinema and inspired him to pursue a career making movies.
The young cinephile then admired how Brocka's films mirrored real-life conditions of people on the lower fringes of society. "His work always reflected the passion of his characters. They were not static characters, his characters were not playing victims. They would really struggle to get their goals," he says.
From expecting to become a lawyer after finishing a Liberal Arts degree, he landed a brief career in advertising. His roles there involved accounting and media planning. "In the ad agency, the production people were really stressed and everything. Magulo, running all over the place. But they seemed to be having fun. I thought, I'd like to try that," he recalls.
That prompted him to pursue a graduate film program at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts. He initially gravitated toward screenwriting but later decided he would enjoy the art more by working closely with the actors and production people.
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His first film was Misis Mo, Misis Ko, a poignant and complex story about two couples entangled in extramarital affairs. The romantic drama, starring Dina Bonnevie, Edu Manzano, Jackie Lou Blanco, and Ricky Davao, was a co-production between Viva and Siguion-Reyna's mother, Armida.
Hihintayin Kita sa Langit, an adaptation of the romantic period drama film Wuthering Heights, released in 1991, not only catapulted him, Reyna Films, and the Richard Gomez-Dawn Zulueta love team to fame, but also brought attention to the province of Batanes.
Siguion-Reyna directed a string of noteworthy projects after that, including Inagaw Mo ang Lahat sa Akin (starring Maricel Soriano, Snooky Serna), Azucena (featuring Alessandra de Rossi), and Hari ng Tondo (top billed by Robert Arevalo). These films, he says, are particularly close to his heart and resonate deeply with him.
We may not have seen him direct new films in recent years, but he's been actively working behind the scenes, particularly as a film professor at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts in Singapore, and at Cinemalaya, where he now serves as the chairman of Cinemalaya's Competition and Monitoring Committee.
He also ran the Cinemalaya Film Lab for 2025, where he guided the 20 semi-finalists and helped them complete the scripts, ten of which would be chosen for next year’s competition.
Siguion-Reyna has also ventured into acting, appearing in the GMA teleserye Apoy sa Langit, the Netflix series Replacing Chef Chico, the feature film Filipiñana, the romantic drama movie Five Breakups and a Romance, and the comedy-drama Pushcart Tales. He is currently seen in the ABS-CBN action-drama television series Pamilya Sagrado, playing the role of Gen. Leon Arevalo, Sr.
In this month's feature on What I've Learned, the veteran filmmaker imparts the wealth of wisdom he learned through years of working in the entertainment industry.
