Worked with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris as a researcher from 1969-1974; left job and went to Munich to sell memorabilia at the 1972 Olympics
Gave up his career to become an artist and changed his name to Kidlat Tahimik that means quiet lighting
Met German filmmaker Werner Herzog, who cast him in The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974); became his protégé
Directed The Perfumed Nightmare (1977) that premiered at the Berlin film festival and is regarded as a benchmark for Third Cinema; won that year's International Film Critics award at the festival
Was professor and filmmaker-in-residence at the San Francisco State University in 1990
In 1993, received the Film Achievement Award from the Film Academy of the Philippines
His film, Balikbayan #1 Memories of Overdevelopment Redux III (2015), was in the making for more than 30 years; won the Caligari Prize at the Berlin Film Festival
Is known as the Father of Philippine Independent Cinema by fellow filmmakers and critics