Raymond Red is one of the pioneering figures of modern Filipino alternative cinema, and has the distinction of being the first Filipino to have won the prestigious Palme D’Or Award at the 2000 Cannes International Film Festival for his short film ANINO, and is also acknowledged for his contribution to experimental cinema in the Oxford History of World Cinema. With a background in visual arts and photography, he established himself with ground-breaking experimental and narrative short films in the 1980s, and soon moved on to independent full-length features in the ‘90s making the now classic historical films “Bayani” and “Sakay”. He had by then begun to mentor, inspire and usher in a new generation of filmmakers into the independent and alternative cinema scene. Red has won awards and citations for his more recent films “Manila Skies”(2010), “Kamera Obskura” (2012), and ”Rebels with a Case" (2015) and has continued to do short feature and experimental films. Red regularly serves as juror in numerous local and international film events, is a regular instructor at the MOWELFUND Film Institute, was a senior lecturer at the U. P. Film Institute, and was an industry fellow at the College of St. Benilde School of Design and Arts. He currently teaches film at the Phil. High School for the Arts. He has also worked in the tv commercials production industry for 34 years as in-house director at FILMEX Inc. He is a member of the Directors’ Guild of the Philippines and the LPS - Guild of Filipino Cinematographers. He is one of the honorees of the 100 years Philippine Cinema Centennial celebrations as an icon of Philippine independent and alternative cinema.
His most current feature work is the historical period film MANILA's FINEST, produced by MQuest Ventures, Cignal, and Spring Films. It is an official entry to the 2025 METRO-MANILA FILM FESTIVAL and is the most awarded film in the festival with 8 awards and 15 nominations.
