Movies About Teachers and School Campuses
By Tante de Ramos

Our website’s trivia expert Tante de Ramos came up with a list of twenty Fil;ipino films which were either set in a educational institution or feature an educator or teacher as the main character. These films included those produced before and after thw War.

Tante’s list is as follows:

Ang Maestra – In a prewar film directed by master Gerardo de Leon, the teacher character was portrayed by the legendary Rosa del Rosario with the equally legendary Rogelio dela Rosa as her partner. The film was RDR Productions a film outfit financed by J. Amado Araneta, Placido Mapa and Rogelio dela Rosa. .

Ang Bagong Maestra – Made in the early 1950s, this flm starred Erlinda Cortez in the lead role. It delineated the travail and hardships of a neophyte teacher who was assigned to a far-flung school.

Good Morning, Titser – A production in the late 1980s, this film starred Coney Reyes in the lead role of a teacher.

Haiskul – Made during the Liberation Era, the teacher film starred by Lirio del Valle.

High School Circa ’65 – Starring no less than Charo Santos and Eddie Rodriguez as members of a high school faculty, this film focused on the generation of high school students in the turbulent years of the 1970s. It tackled the bittersweet experiences of young teeners having crushes for their teachers and the many trials young people go through during that era. This was the first film of Director Maryo J. de los Reyes.

Luv Ko si Mam – Another 1980s film, this starred Alice Dixson as a teacher-guidance-counsellor and her herculean efforts to maintain an air of respectability amidst the topsy-turvy world populated by young people seeking directions and ambitions in their young lives. It emphasized the need for the older generation to understand the foibles and needs of the young students.

Love Boat – A drama musical of the 1980s, this film starred Susan Roses as the teacher who brought her young students to a cruise. Between the ports of call, differwent stories unfold. It was produced by Sampaguita Pictures, Inc.

Mam, May We Go Out – This time, it was Carmi Martin who portrayed and played the lead role of Mam, the teacher. A drama comedy, it was also produced in the 1980s.

First Day High – Apparently the latest film set in a school, this was shown just lst year, 2006. The young cast included up and rising talents such as Maja Salvador, Jason Abalos, Kim Chiu, Gerald Anderson and Goeff Eigenman. An investtigator probes the attempted poisoning of the school’s varsity basketball and in the process interviewed the main characters of the film.

Maharlika – Made in the late 1940s, this film starred Tita Duran, Oscar Moreno and Pancho Magalona. This told the story of a city-bred new teacher who accepted an assignment to teach in a bacxkward rural hamlet. It was produced by Sampaguita Pictures,Inc.

Mga Munting Tinig – A film that was the country’s entry to the Oscar Awards forewign film caegory, this Gil Portes film starred Alessandra de Rossi as a teacher who was assigned to a rural school and was responsible in organizing a choir that aims to win in the provincial choral singing comntest. It also starred Gina Alajar, Amy Austria, Dexter Doria and Nonie Buencamino. It was produced by Teamwork Productions CAP Philippines and released thru Maverick Films.

Mga Sugat ng Puso – Made before the War, this film starred Rosita Rivera who portrayed the role of a teacher, slogging through the heartaches and victories that her profession brought down on her.

Mila – This Joel Lamangan film starred Maricel Soriano as an activist teacher who decided to go to the streets to teach out-of-school youths and in so doing reinvented the stereotypical image of a modern day teacher. It also starred child actress Serena Darymple.

Miss Teresa Abad, Ako Po si Bing - Charito Solis essayed the role of a teacher in this film which was produced by LVN Pictures, Inc.

Mutya ng Paaralan – Made in the early 1950s, this film starred Anita Linda and focused on the milieu of campus beauties and muses.

Saan Ka Pupunta Miss Lutgarda Nicolas? - This film starredBoots Anson Roa as the teacher Lutgarda Nicoles. Made in the 1970s and directed by Ed Palmos, this film dissected the microcosm of an educational institution and school campus as a world in itself.

Teen Age Crush – This is a youth movie that followed the lives of several students who fell in and out of crushes, struggled through their studies but still accomplished the end-all of schooling. The film starred Tessie Quintana, Eddie Rodriguez and Lita Guttierez as the teachers while the satudents were portrayed by young stars like Manding Claro, Lus Valdez, Fred Panopio, Rene Ibañez, Marietta Sanz and the Dracula Boys. It was directed by actor Tony Santos and produced by LVN Pictures , Inc.

Tender Age - One of Regal Films youth-oriented films, this movie starred a cast of young talents led by Dina Bonnevie who played the roles of students in a private school campus. This was produced in 1985.

Titser’s Pet – Made in the 1980s, this film starred Alma Moreno as the apple of a teacher’s eye. It underlined the reality that teachers really played favorites and that some students really had the knack for turning themselves into teahcsdr’s pets.

Working Students – Michael V led a cast of talents in a film that followed the lives of working and self-supporting students who led double lives to get a diploma to arm themselves with in the rat race that waits for them outsid the school gates.