As we noted in the introduction to our decade poll, the 2010s in Philippine cinema saw the expansion on the huge gains made the previous decade, with the continued rise of independent filmmaking. While there is obviously no single person that can capture the story of the 2010s in local cinema, we thought it would be fun to ask close industry observers as to who they think is one figure that was instrumental in shaping the past decade in film.

The goal is not to tabulate, though for those who are curious, Lav Diaz was mentioned the most, followed by Antoinette Jadaone, Bing Lao, and Teddy Co. Our objective was to hear how the invited respondents defended their choices.

Happy reading!

Joseph Abello, filmmaker

“Jun Lana. The decade saw the division between ‘indie’ films and mainstream films. I wanted to mention two directors, one ‘indie’ director and one mainstream…