Tikoy Aguiluz, director of ‘Boatman’ and ‘Segurista,’ dies at 72

The late filmmaker Tikoy Aguiluz. Image: Facebook/Directors’ Guild of the Philippines

Filmmaker and visual artist Amable “Tikoy” Aguiluz VI, who was among the Filipino directors to bring home awards from international film festivals from the 1980s to the 1990s, passed away on Monday morning. He was 72.

His passing was announced by daughter Anima Aguiluz Slangen on Facebook. In a separate post, the Aguiluz family also asked the public to respect their privacy.

“We assure you that once we are ready, we will share details about a public service where all who knew and loved Direk Tikoy can join us in paying tribute and saying our final goodbyes,” they said.

Aguiluz’s 1984 debut film, “Boatman,” was exhibited at the 1985 London Film Festival, where it was awarded outstanding film of the year. In 1996, he released “Segurista,” which became the country’s official entry to the Oscars’ best foreign language film award category.

Keen on details

In 1997, he directed “Rizal sa Dapitan,” which told the life of national hero Jose Rizal while in exile in Zamboanga del Norte. It bagged the Grand Jury Prize at the Brussels International Film Festival, as well as the best actor honor for Albert Martinez.

Aguiluz was a director who was “so strict and keen on details,” as well as “protective and encouraging” of his actors, according to Martinez and his “Segurista” costar Michelle Aldana.

READ: Award-winning filmmaker Tikoy Aguiluz dies

“When we shot the scene where the body of Dr. Jose Rizal was being dragged [after execution]. He shouted ‘Cut!’ multiple times because he saw that the soles of the shoes I was wearing had the logo of Bally. Although the brand has been around since 1851, I was wearing the wrong style. He was so upset because he was so strict about the details of our costumes,” Martinez said INQ