FILM MAESTRO and professor Fr. Nicasio “Nick” Cruz, SJ passed away on the morning of December 10 at age 88.
Cruz was an associate professor at the Loyola Schools Department of Communication. He was known for his courses on Film Theory, Filipino Film, Asian Cinema, and European Cinema, among others.
He also served as a board member of the Movies and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) from 1998-2016, as well as Jesuit Communications (JesCom), the media wing of the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus that aims to promote religious education through media.
Cruz’s wake will be held at the Oratory of St. Ignatius at the Loyola House of Studies, with daily wake masses at 8:00 PM. His funeral mass will be held on Thursday, December 14, at 8:00 AM.
Commemorating Fr. Nick
After joining the Jesuits at age 17, Cruz finished a Master of Arts degree in Philosophy at Berchmans College in Cebu City. He also earned a Licentiate in Sacred Theology at Woodstock College in Maryland, USA.
In 1976, Cruz finished studying Cinematography at the London Film School. Upon his return, he started teaching film at the Ateneo de Manila while living in the Jesuit Residence. He also taught film courses at Maryknoll College (now known as Miriam College) and East Asian Pastoral Institute from 1985 to 1990.
Members of the Ateneo community shared their sentiments on social media, commemorating the renowned professor and Jesuit.
University President Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ paid tribute to Cruz by tweeting, “fr nick cruz sj, 88. film and media specialist, beloved teacher, dear brother in the Lord, God’s loyal and faithful servant. rest now after a lifetime of watching this world and let God and his angels watch over you. amdg…”
Meanwhile, former Communication Department Chair and assistant professor Severino Sarmenta, PhD also posted on Twitter, saying “[w]ill thank God here in Jerusalem for my teacher and friend Fr Nick Cruz S.J. Who passed away.”
Sports journalist Mico Halili (AB COM ‘95) expressed his gratitude to his former teacher, saying how “[w]atching movies in Fr Nick’s film classes in college was a creative academic exercise” which always involved “searching for stories, symbols, and significance.”
Film legacy
Beloved by students, Cruz is remembered by Ateneans for the remarkable movies he showed in class, and for his great appreciation of film.
Apple Nocom (AB COM ‘14), a former student of Cruz, sought to honor her late teacher’s memory by crowdsourcing for digital copies of Cruz’s class syllabi on Asian Cinema, European Cinema, Filipino Cinema, and Elements of Screen Arts. She created a Dropbox folder to collate the documents.
In an interview with The GUIDON, Nocom mentioned that despite Cruz’s classes being “easy A and chill,” they were a notable show of his passion and appreciation for film.
“He also had amazing taste in film, thus my longstanding wish of collating his syllabi,” she said.
Nocom also shared how Ateneans can keep Cruz’s legacy alive.
“I like to think [that] if Father knew that more people learned to enjoy film because of him, he’d be [contented]. If he could have contributed to a generation of film lovers and filmmakers with the same eye and mind as him, he’d be so happy with that legacy,” Nocom said.
“So all it really takes is to support film and let it bloom on campus, in his memory. Never let love of film die in Ateneo, even if one of its biggest fans and best teachers has left,” she added.
With the celebration of the Communication Department’s 50th anniversary on March 27, a scholarship named after Cruz was also launched.
The “Fr. Nick D. Cruz SJ Scholarship Fund” aims to help hopeful Ateneo students who want to pursue studies on film, media, and production.
ADDENDUM: This article was updated on December 11, 2017, at 1:39 PM, to include the schedule and venue of Cruz’s wake.
