Artist and multi-talented creative director Ferdie L. Balanag has a list of accomplishments in film and theater and culture and the arts up his sleeve.
These include audio-visuals that rebranded Baguio City; a documentation of the region’s local cuisine; a music video in the midst of the pandemic; stories inspired by everyday people around the world during the pandemic; and a film on paints and brushes to create personal protective equipment. He also worked on at least seven other films from 2005 to 2015.
He worked for audio-visual production for television and directed events, including the Montañosa Film Festival; Crescendo; Ibagiw; An Enchanting Baguio Christmas; Philippine International Arts Festival; Ipitik; Celebrating the Golden Years; Cordillera Eco-Youth Summit; the Baguio Art Congress; the 6th Baguio Arts Festival 2005; and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines National Convention.
Balanag has also directed, acted, and wrote scripts in at least a dozen plays, musicals, and production. He has published Baguio memories and insights in 2006 and in 2014. He is a recipient of numerous accolades and awards here and abroad.
His works highlight Baguio and the Cordillera culture, its people, events, rituals, local cuisine, venues, music, heritage, and practices.
His subjects for his works are common yet unique, down-to-Earth and realistic from health, environment, tourism, social activism, peace, ending poverty and economics, the youth and elderly; all focused on the betterment of the society.
Most of his recent works are on the city and region’s resilience and bouncing back from the Covid-19 pandemic, the frontliners, and tourism industry’s plight.
With his creativity, ingenuity and originality, the Baguio-born and bred Balanag serves as an inspiration for aspiring young artists.
