Behn Cervantes

In theater Among Cervantes' work as stage director are Guys and Dolls, The Short, Short Life of Citizen Juan, and Iskolar ng Bayan. Cervantes appeared in many stage productions as actor, including The Mikado, Waiting for Godot, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Cabaret, and M. Butterfly. He also worked on activist plays, including Pagsambang Bayan and Estados Unidos versus Juan Matapang Cruz. In film Cervantes directed Sakada in 1976 while the Philippines was under martial law. After the movie had spent three weeks in theaters, Marcos ordered the military to seize copies of the film. He appeared in the films Bomba Star, Aguila, When I Fall In Love, Memories of Old Manila, Waiting in the Wings, Alas-Dose, Ang Anak ni Brocka, and Barako. ==Activism==

Together with fellow filmmaker Lino Brocka and other artists, Cervantes initiated the Free the Artist, Free the Media Movement to oppose media censorship during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. The movement led to the formation of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines in 1983. In 1985, Cervantes and Brocka attended a nationwide transport strike in sympathy with public transportation drivers who organized the strike against rising gas prices. Cervantes and Brocka were arrested and charged with illegal assembly, which carries a penalty of life imprisonment. They were released after 16 days. He was a member of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines. He is believed to have coined the term edifice complex in the 1970s to describe Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos's practice of using publicly funded construction projects as political and election propaganda. ==Awards==

• Life Achievement Award from University of the Philippines Alumni Association • Aliw award for Life Achievement in Theater • Cultural Center of the Philippines' centennial award ==See also==