THE UST Publishing House has released a book featuring a collection of critical essays on the films of award-winning actress Vilma Santos, celebrating her portrayal of women empowerment.
The book, titled “Vilma Santos, Icon: Essays on Cinema, Culture, and Society” is edited by UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies (CCWLS) Co-Director Prof. Augusto Antonio Aguila and Asst. Prof. Joselito Zulueta, Varsitarian adviser and a journalism faculty member.
“I wanted to show that the characters actually [present] women empowerment, you know, that the characters she portrays somehow uplift the status of women in society,” Aguila told the Varsitarian.
The book collected essays from 24 contributors, including CCWLS resident fellows Paul Castillo, Joyce Arriola and Joselito Delos Reyes, Creative Writing instructor Louie Zaraspe, Filipino instructor Mark Angeles, UST Publishing House Director Benedict Parfan, and Faculty of Arts and Letters Dean Melanie Turingan.
Scholars from Monash University of Australia and other foreign universities also wrote chapters.
“We found out that there are many Thomasian scholars who have seen her films and have admired her as an artist,” Aguila said.
“And we found out that there are many professors of UST and other universities who actually would want to write about Ate V,” he added, using a moniker for the Filipina movie star.
According to the creative writing center co-director, the book was subjected to blind review before being edited and sent to the UST Publishing House for review.
“We want [readers] to know more about the impact of film–that there are many films that can be studied in a very scholarly way,” Aguila said.
The book was officially launched at the 2025 Philippine Book Festival held from March 13 to 16 at SM Megamall in Mandaluyong.
“Vilma Santos, Icon: Essays on Cinema, Culture, and Society,” is available at the UST Publishing House’s onsite and online stores. With reports from Karis M. Tsang
