Himala

Himala

Himalâ ("Miracle") is a Filipino film directed by the late National Artist Ishmael Bernal of the Philippines in 1982. The film's script was written by multi-award winner screenwriter Ricky Lee based on a true incident on a teenage girl in Cabra Island in the province of Occidental Mindoro between 1966 and 1967. Sergio Lobo was the Director of Photography.

Himalâ was filmed entirely in the province of Ilocos Norte in just three weeks with a budget of only ₱ 3 million. The film premiered at the 1982 Metro Manila Film Festival, and in 1983, became the first Filipino film to be included in the "Competition Section" of the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival. Since then, Himala has been exhibited in a number of film festivals around the world.

On November 11, 2008, Himalâ won the Viewer's Choice Award for the Best Film of all Time from the Asia-Pacific Region in the 2008 CNN Asia Pacific Screen Awards beating out nine other outstanding movies.(voted by thousands of film fans around the world). The ten finalists were chosen by critics, industry insiders and actors—including Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai.

Philippine superstar Nora Aunor is best known for her performance in the film as the visionary Elsa. Her portrayal is considered by most Filipino critics as the best of her career.

On its 30th anniversary, Himala is the first of the 3000+ films to be restored by the ABS-CBN Film Archive and Central Digital Lab, Inc. The restored version premiered at the 69th Venice International Film Festival.