term defined by architect Gerard Lico as "an obsession and compulsion to build edifices as a hallmark of greatness." 1981 construction deaths An accident occurred around 3:00 a.m. on November 17, 1981, during the construction of the Manila Film Center. The scaffolding collapsed, and at least 169 workers fell and were buried under quick-drying wet cement. A blanket of security was immediately imposed by the Marcos dictatorship. Neither rescuers nor ambulances were permitted on the site until an official statement had been prepared. The rescuers were eventually permitted to go inside the accident site nine hours after the collapse. According to former CCP president Baltazar N. Endriga, architect Froilan Hong said that only seven died in the accident and that all of them "were retrieved and given the proper rites befitting the dead." Aftermath After the tragedy Prime Minister Cesar Virata disapproved a $5 million subsidy which was originally intended for the film festival. Lacking in funding, Imelda Marcos created a contingency plan that would generate enough funds to cover the festival. Design and architecture writer Deyan Sudjic credits the Manila Film Center accident as one of the events which heralded the downfall of the Marcos dictatorship half a decade later, saying: The beginning of the end of the Marcos period was marked by the collapse of the scaffolding on the Manila Film Center, one of Imelda Marcos’s pet projects, as it was being rushed for completion. Several construction workers were killed, crushed by falling steel. The very buildings being presented as the icons of a bold new republic seemed to embody the corruption and incompetence of the regime. The First Manila Film Festival Amidst everything, the first Manila International film festival pushed through from the January 18 to 29, 1982. A total of 17 movies competed in the festival namely 36 Chowringhee Lane (India), Body Heat (USA), Gallipoli (Australia), Growing up (Line Iida) (Norway), Harry Tracy-Desperado (Canada), La Femme d'à côté (France), Lola (Germany), Los Viernes de la Eternidad (Argentina), Majstori, Majstori! (Yugoslavia), No Charges Filed (Egypt), Smash Palace (New Zealand), Take It All (Jetz Und Alles) (West Germany), The Beloved Woman of Mechanic Gavrilov (USSR), The French Lieutenant's Woman (Great Britain), There Was A War When I Was A Child (Japan), Vabank (Poland) and Wasted Lives (Hungary). India's entry, 36 Chowringhee Lane claimed best picture. Best actress and best actor were brought home by Lyudmila Gurchenko and Bruno