Few modern political figures have been as controversial, outspoken and perhaps misunderstood as Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines and the subject of award-winning filmmaker Ramona Diaz’s Imelda. For the first time, Marcos tells her own story on film: how she rose from humble origins to become one of the richest and most powerful women in contemporary world history.
Universally known by her first name, or by her nickname, “The Iron Butterfly,” Imelda Marcos is the widow of the late Ferdinand Marcos, the exiled president of the Philippines. The Marcoses ruled the Philippines for nearly 20 years after Ferdinand Marcos became president in 1965, declaring martial law in 1972 and maintaining close ties with the U.S. during their time in office. Despite strict governmental control and violence, opposition to Marcos’s regime continued to grow in the following years. After a controversial vote count in Ferdinand Marcos’s1986 presidential run against Corazón Aquino, the widow of slain political rival Benigno Aquino, a popular uprising forced the Marcoses to leave the Philippines and flee to Hawaii, where they lived in exile until Ferdinand Marcos’s death. Throughout their years in office, it was Imelda, whose beauty, cosmopolitan bearing and lavish tastes eventually brought her more fame—and perhaps even more power—than her husband.
Imelda is told through exceptionally rare and original interviews with Marcos herself. Diaz and her crew were given unprecedented access to Marcos’s life, following her throughout the Philippines and even living in her home for a period of time. Marcos is both vivaciously charming as she addresses the camera and perplexing as she expounds upon her personal cosmology and addresses the question: What about all the shoes?
But Imelda, like the woman herself, is about far more than just shoes. To this day, Filipinos demonstrate equal passion in either their adulation or loathing of this larger-than-life figure. Will Imelda Marcos finally be convicted of charges that range from graft to human rights abuses? And if she is, will a verdict against her restore a natural order to the Philippines, or merely add martyrdom to the weight of her symbolic claim? Shot by cinematographer Ferne Pearlstein in 16-millimeter film and awarded a Sundance 2004 prize for excellence in cinematography, IMELDA is a visually stunning look at one of the world’s most reviled and revered women.
The Filmmakers
Ramona S. Diaz Diaz is an award-winning Filipino American filmmaker whose credits include Spirits Rising, an hour-long documentary about women’s role in the 1986 People Power revolution in the Philippines. Spirits Rising received a Student Academy Award, the Ida Lupino Director’s Guild of America Award, a Golden Gate Award from the San Francisco International Film Festival, a Gold Apple from the National Educational Media Network and a Certificate of Merit from the International Documentary Association. It has been screened internationally and broadcast on public television stations in the United States and Australia.
Prior to pursuing a career as an independent filmmaker, Diaz was an associate producer for Cadillac Desert, a major PBS documentary series about the quest for water in the American West. She also line produced and edited an award-winning, 24-part television documentary series in the Philippines about the immigrant experiences of Filipinos residing in Europe and America entitled Apple Pie, Patis, Paté, atbp. Diaz has also worked in Los Angeles as a writer’s assistant for Mary Tyler Moore Productions and as a producer’s assistant for Lorimar Productions. She is a graduate of Emerson College and holds an M.A. in communication from Stanford University.
Ferne Pearlstein Pearlstein won the Documentary Cinematography Prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival for her work on IMELDA. A graduate of Stanford University’s M.A. film program and the International Center of Photography, she began her career as a photographer before becoming an award-winning director and cinematographer. She was director of production on Ruthie and Connie for HBO (2002 Berlinale); Voice of the Prophet (Sundance, Toronto, Human Rights Watch ‘02); Pleasures of Urban Decay (Sundance 2000), and Secret People (PBS). As a director, her films include Raising Nicholas (Sundance 1993), To Meet the Elephant (PBS), and Dita and the Family Business. Her feature film Sumo East and West premiered at the 2003 Tribeca and IFP/LA Film Festivals and was broadcast on Independent Lens. Recently, Pearlstein has shifted her focus from documentary to narrative film as director of photography on the shorts Easter Sunday, starring Jennifer Jason Leigh (Tribeca, 2005), and The Suzy Prophecy, starring Heather Juergensen. She is currently second unit director, director of photography, editor and associate producer on the feature film Land of the Blind, starring Ralph Fiennes and Donald Sutherland.
Leah Marino Marino has worked on documentaries for 12 years. Before editing IMELDA, she worked as an editor for numerous documentaries that have aired on PBS. She is currently editing The Creek Runs Red, a documentary about a town in Oklahoma which was the first superfund site in the United States, and recently completed Dirt, a feature documentary about the bottom class of dirt track racecar drivers at the Devils Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas. In the summer of 2004, Marino edited Light from the East, a documentary film about an American actress’s exploration of events inside the Ukraine as the Soviet Union was collapsing. It premiered at the 2005 SXSW Film Festival. Marino worked for six years at Galan Productions, where she completed Winter Texans, the Emmy award-winning segment of the series The Border. She started her career as an assistant editor on Chicano! History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement, a four-part series that aired on PBS in 1996.
associate producers
Jam Bonoan
Anne Del Castillo
Joji Ravina
location sound
Richard Fleming
editing consultant
Deborah Hoffmann
assistant camera
Darcy Dennett
Jay Silver
Amy Silverman
Paul Marburry
negative cutter
Lewis Motisher
archive researcher
Jessica Lochheim
opening titles design
Will Hornaday
hd on-line editor
Wayne Caffrey
colorist
Greg Conners
audio mixer
Brian Cunneff
on-line assistant editors
Brian Paxson
Sam Shon
Kevin McCarthy
after effects design
D’Lun Wong
hd smoke/flame editor
Ken England
post production coordinator
Susan T. Dyer
additional camera
John Chater
additional sound
John Haptas
music clearance
The Rights Workshop
payroll and accounting services
Rita Brantner
production assistant
Jing Racelis
Executive Producer for ITVS
Sally Jo Fifer
Post Production Services
Monaco Film and Video
Roland House
Star Film Laboratories
RoadRunner Network
ColorLab
Rocket Productions
NFL Films
DuArt Film and Video
Color Lab
Philippine Information Agency
Post Op Media
Archive Sources
ABC News Video Source
GMA Network, Inc.
APTN
Imelda Marcos
BBC Library
Lopez Museum
British Movietone
Lyndon Johnson Library
Bulletin Today
Manila Times
CBS News
McDonald Films
CNN Image Source
Moving Image Library
F.I.L.M. Archives
National Archives
Gerald Ford Library
NBC News Archives
Philippine Information Agency
Ronald Reagan Library
Sampaguita Pictures
University of the Philippines
Music
"Heaven Watch the Philippines"
Written by Irving Berlin
Irivng Berlin Music Company
Performed by Imelda Marcos
"God Bless America"
Written by Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin Music Company
Performed by Imelda Marcos
"Does He Love You?"
Written by Sandra K Knox & William A Striech
Courtesy of Angel Records under license
from EMI Film & Television Music
PKM Music (ASCAP) and Lac du Charles Musique (BMI)
Licensed By Publishers' Licensing Corporation
Performed by Liza Minelli & Donna Summer
"Just Can’t Get Enough"
Written by Vince Clarke
Courtesy of Sony/ATV Music LLC (BMI) obo Sony/ATV
Music Publishing UK Ltd., Musical Moments Ltd. (PRS)
Performed by Side A
"I Can’t Give You Anything But Love"
Written by Jimmy McHugh & Dorothy Fields
Courtesy of EMI April Music & Aldi Music
Performed by George Hamilton
Excerpt from Giselle, Ballet Pantomime in Two Acts
Act II, Pas des premieres Willis
Music by Adolphe Adam
"Ahay Tuburan"
Traditional Folk Song
Arrangement: Bayani Mendoza de Leon
Courtesy of Bycynthium Treasures
Cellist: Sarighani de Leon Reist
Pianist: Cynthia Guerrero de Leon
"Dahil Sa Iyo"
Lyrics by Dominador Santiago
Written by Mike Velarde
Performed by Imelda Marcos
"Ako Ay Pilipino"
Written By George Canseco
Arranged by Amado Trevino
Courtesy of Vicor Music Coporation
Performed by Kuh Ledesma
The filmmaker wishes to thank the following
for their participation in the production of this film:
Imelda R Marcos
Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.
Imee Marcos
Fe Bautista
Stephen Bosworth
Phil Bronstein
Behn Cervantes
Rudolfo Cuenca
Lester Cuo
Josie Vergel De Dios
Jaime De Joya
Conrado De Quiros
Ruel De Vera
Katherine Ellison
Christian Espiritu
Jessica Hagedorn
Richard Holbrooke
Francisca Jimenez
Sen Eva Kalaw
Stanley Karnow
Lucrecia Kasilag
Kuring
Pete Lacaba
Letty Locsin
Jo-Ann Maglipon
Alex & Lily Montejo
Lenore A. Monthermoso
Carmen G Nakpil
Maria Beth Novio
Bernice Ocampo
Sen. Sergio Osmena III
Arnold Pascual
Vicente Paterno
Eddie Payanustan
Francisco Pedrosa
Loreto Ramos
Fr. James Reuter
Margaret Sullivan
Raul Sunico
Francis Tatu
Tessie Tomas
Ching Valdes-Aran
Llewellyn White
Special Thanks To:
Rajiv N Rimal
Sabina Diaz-Rimal
Julia, Talia, & Dino Diaz
Bobbie & Nini Diaz
Ileana Maramag
Richard Berge
Karen Bernstein
Jay Boekelheid
Bonjin Bolinao
Roque Caguingin
Delia Castillo
Belle Capul
Purcell Carson
Melissa Flores
Allison Codlin
Cyrille Dedegbe
Rachel Del Castillo
Linda Dennis
Bob Edwards
Alan Escano
Heintje Fernandez
Lito Gorospe
Rick Hawthorne
Don Howard
Judith Jecmen
Jan Krawitz
Tina Luz
Julie Mackaman
Tats Manahan
Guia Montinola
Anne O’Toole
May Padilla
Arnel Pilapil
Jan Sakamoto
Januario Sanchez
Ellen Spiro
Paul Stekler
Noel Tolentino
Rosemary Villareal
CW Wang
Sonny Yabao
Lisa Yasui
Gurumayi Chidvilasananda
Amorsolo Mansions
Asian Institute of Management
Hotel Alejandro
Kodak Philippines
Marikina Shoe Museum
Politixx Club
Northview Hotel
Palazzo De Laoag Hotel
The Sto. Nino Shrine
Xavier House
Cenozoic Studios
Council on Foreign Relations
Duplass Brothers Productions
Joseph Papp Public Theatre
KTEH TV San Jose
Sundance Institute
The Fletcher School, Tufts University
University of Texas, Austin
and to the entire staff of Mrs. Marcos for their infinite patience
Additional Funding Provided by
The Soros Documentary Fund
In Memoriam
J Renato S. Diaz
Produced in association with the Independent Television Service and
the National Asian American Telecommunications Association
This program was produced by CineDiaz, Inc., which is solely responsible for its content