Ishmael Bernal was a Filipino film, stage and television director, actor and screenwriter. Noted for melodramas with feminist and moral themes, he directed many landmark Filipino films such as Pagdating sa Dulo (1971), Nunal sa Tubig (1976), Manila by Night (1980), Himala (1982), and Working Girls (1984). Bernal was declared a National Artist of the Philippines in 2001.