After graduation he worked with Lamberto Avellana's documentary outfit before proceeding to France where he earned his Licentiate in French Literature and Philosophy at the University of Aix-en-Provence.

During the 1960s, Bernal put up the cafes When It's a Grey November in Your Soul in Malate and Kasalo in Quezon City three decades later, which became the hang-out of students, journalists, poets, bands, theater and film artists.

In this film we catch a glimpse into what Ishmael Bernal's ouvre would prefigure for the industry: it is a scene showing an aspiring actress (played by Rita Gomez) pondering on dreams blooming in deserts of desolation and dying out in a mirage that painfully conjures images of squatter colonies and sordid lives.

The bold star stares out into the landscape and scans it, with the camera acting as her surrogate, but finally framing her against the embarrassingly majestic Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Under his name is a broad range of film genres and themes: historical dramas like El Vibora (The Viper), and the "Bonifacio" episode in the unreleased Lahing Pilipino (The Filipino Race); sophisticated comedies like Tisoy (Mestizo), Pabling (Playboy), Working Girls I and Working Girls II; experimental films like Nunal sa Tubig (Speck in the Water) and Himala (Miracle); and contemporary dramas exploring human psyches and social relationships, such as Ligaw Na Bulaklak (Wildflower), Mister Mo, Lover Boy Ko (Your Husband, My Lover), Ikaw Ay Akin (You Are Mine), Relasyon (The Affair), Aliw (Pleasure) and the film classic Manila by Night (or City After Dark).

Before Bernal died in Quezon City on June 2, 1996, he was scheduled to direct a film about the life story of Lola Rosa Henson, the comfort woman during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines.

[1] Aside from film, Bernal also directed television shows like the long-time drama series Ang Makulay Na Daigdig ni Nora (The Colorful World of Nora) for which he was named Outstanding Director in a Drama Series by the Patas Awards in 1979; Metro Magazine, Isip Pinoy, Dear Teacher and episodes for PETABISYON and Lorna.

[6] He was buried at Himlayang Pilipino in Quezon City but was reinterred at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on September 14, 2024, after a state funeral.