Kevin Piamonte

Kevin Pison Piamonte (Kevin Peter Amado Pison Piamonte) is an Ilonggo film and theater director, scriptwriter, fictionist & actor. Born in Iloilo City on March 2, 1966, his parents are Angel Jover Piamonte and Rosalinda Fuentes Pison. National Artist for Music Jovita Fuentes is the sister of his maternal grandmother. Kevin Pison Piamonte is currently an Associate Professor at the Division of Humanities, College of Arts and Sciences at the University of the Philippines Visayas.
He finished High School at the then University of the Philippines (UP) College Iloilo (IC) in 1983. He initially enrolled in the applied physics program at UP Diliman, but shifted to bachelor of arts in broadcast communication at UPCI in Iloilo City, which he finished in 1987. He obtained his master's degree in English language teaching at the University of Warwick, England, under the British Council Scholarship Program in 1994. He considers Antonio Mabesa and Anton Juan Jr as his influences. He was the artistic director of Theater Arts Guild University of the Philippines College Iloilo (TAGUPCI) from 1989 to 1993. He has been a faculty member of the Division of Humanities, UP Visayas, since 1990.
Piamonte's early theater engagement was when he played multiple roles in Dulaang Laboratoryo's Oresteia, 1983; Mic Bottom in Dulaang UP's A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1984; and part of the Chorus in the British Council's Murder in the Cathedral, 1984; and part of the Chorus in Indios Inc's Marat/Sade, 1984. 
When he transferred to UP Visayas, he performed and directed TAGUPCI productions from 1985 to 1993. He took the roles of Pozzo in Waiting for Godot, Boy in Patas (Equal), and Teacher in The Lesson. He directed Batang Pro (Child Prostitute), The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, Abbatoir (Grill), Maternal, Ilongga Madamo nga Guya (Many Faces of an Ilongga), and Hasyenda Roces (an adaptation of Cherry Orchard). He collaborated with fellow theater artist and writer John Barrios in conceptualizing and directing various performances of what UP Visayas theater artists would call “poetry-in-motion” from 1989 to 1993.
After his graduate studies, he immersed into script, feature, and fiction writing. His screenplay The Man from the Village of Hmong became a finalist in the Hollywood Pitchmart Screenwriting Competition, 1996; his Days in the Cameron won in the same competition in 1997. His screenplay Recuerdos de Soledad (Memories of Solitude) was adjudged second prize in the 1999 Film Development Council of the Philippines Screenwriting Competition. His ABS-CBN telemovie Sinag sa Karimlan (A Gleam in the Dark), 2000, won second place in the 2001 Golden Dove Awards. His features and short stories were published in the Philippines Free Press, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999; UP Literary Folio, Ladlad 2 (Unfurling 2), and Pagbutlak (Rising), 1996; Busay (Falls), 1997; and The Philippine Star, 2006, where he won the Philippine Star Lifestyle Journalism Award.
Piamonte went back to directing performances and video documentaries in Iloilo in 1999. He directed Dabadaba sa Sidlangan (The Burning of the East), a dance-drama, and Murder in the Cathedral, 1999; Dalagang Bukid (Country Maiden) and The King and I, 2000; Panayanon: The Epics of Panay, 2000-2001; Vagina Monologues, Flower Drum Song, Madame Butterfly, and The Diary of Anne Frank, 2001; Beauty and the Beast and A Midsummer Night's Dream, 2002; Juanita Cruz, 2003, a neosarsuwela adaptation of Magdalena Jalandoni's novel; Aladdin and O’Layra: Prinsesa cang Dagat (O' Layra: Princess of the Sea), 2005; Walang Sugat (No Wounds), 2006; The Lion King, 2010-11; and Happy Feet, 2013. His direction of Panayanon: The Epics of Panay, a dance-drama adapted from Alicia Magos's research, has been staged in various venues in Antique, Davao, and Laguna, as well as in the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). He wrote and directed Pintados de Passi (Pintados of Passi), 2005, which won the grand prize in the CCP's Aliwan Festival.
He also directed poetry-in-motion performances dubbed as Duag sang Kabisayaan (Color of the Visayas) and Panglakaton Blues (Journey Blues), 1999; video-documentaries such as Literature in Performance: Poetry in Motion, Dabadaba sa Sidlangan, and The Choreography of Modern Dance, 1999, Buhay-buhay sa Ilalim ng Tulay (Life under the Bridge), 2000, and The Music of Koro, 2001; a celebration of performing arts in Iloilo City titled Harvest 2000, 2000.
The Iloilo Province conferred on Piamonte the Outstanding Ilonggo Citizen Award for Theater Arts in 2008. 
Kevin Pison Piamonte has devoted much of his time writing screenplays and directing films. His first venture into filmmaking as a director started with the full-length documentary Land from God which consequently earned its world premiere at the prestigious Busan International Film Festival in 2018. In an article published by the Philippine Star:In another article published by The Philippine Daily InquirerThe documentary shows a little-seen side of “Boracay, a tourist destination loved by all,” the fest’s website remarks. “The Ati are losing their traditional home,” related the site. Piamonte’s 62-minute film depicts “the lives of the underprivileged and those helping them in the shadow of splendid development.
In May 2018, Kevin Pison Piamonte was selected as one of the four full-length recipients of a funding initiative by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) called Sinesaysay. "This first year of SineSaysay is an important step for us to expand the empowerment and appreciation of other types of filmmaking. Documentary films have form part of our collective consciousness, highlighting very relevant social issues and even inspiring real change, and it is high time that we actively support the production of more of these types of films," said FDCP Chairperson Liza Dino.
Kevin Pison Piamonte's film for Sinesaysay is entitled Daan Patungong Tawaya (Road to Paradise). It is the "story of the first Katipunan chapter outside of Luzon, led by Gen. Francisco del Castillo, and the 19 martyrs from Aklan province [the film] gives a good picture of the revolutionary movement in that part of the Visayas, with smatterings of folk wisdom and lore. The film premiered at SM City Iloilo Cinemas on September of 2019 and was toured in Luzon and Mindanao. 
Recently, Kevin Pison Piamonte has completed one short film entitled Bukog (Fish Bones), a comedy about Filipino superstitions and Ginhawa (Breathe) a documentary about how the people of Iloilo City come to terms with the 2-month quarantine during the Covid-19 pandemic.
==In the media==
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Category:1966 births
Category:University of the Philippines faculty
Category:American actors
Category:American screenwriters
Category:American theatre directors
Category:American fiction writers
Category:University of Warwick alumni
Category:University of the Philippines alumni
Category:Master's degrees
Category:Bachelor's degrees