[6] He directed landmark films such as Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang (1974), Manila in the Claws of Light (1975), Insiang (1976), Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim (1984), and Orapronobis (1989).

[12] He attended the University of the Philippines and began working in theatre, acting and directing plays where his career in cinema and television followed suit.

[14][15] He joined the Mormon Church and lived on Mokoka'i for a year, tending to lepers, in an attempt to find answers regarding his homosexuality, but shortly after he returned to Manila after seeking closure.

In 1974, Brocka directed Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang ("You Have Been Weighed and Found Wanting"),[17] which told the story of a teenager growing up in a small town amid its petty and gross injustices.

It was a box-office success, and earned Brocka another Best Director award, this time from the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS).

[19] The film tells the allegorical tale of a young provincial named Julio Madiaga who goes to Manila looking for his lost love, Ligaya Paraiso.

This film fosters a dialogue about human rights violations and Marcos' rising autocratic rule through micro-narratives of the country's underclass, dark and cramped metropolitan feel, and seedy and impoverished locations.

The film centers on a young woman named Insiang who lives in the infamous Manila slum area, Tondo.

His group became active in anti-government rallies after the assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr., eventually becoming one of the progressive organizations representing artists and cultural workers in the country.

[6] In 1984, Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim ("My Country") was deemed subversive by the government of Ferdinand Marcos, and underwent a legal battle to be shown in its uncut form.

In 1990, Brocka's frequent cinematographer Pedro Manding Jr. was found stabbed to death in a canal in Quezon City, with authorities later identifying the perpetrator as a person from Labrador, Pangasinan.

At around 1:30a.m., the car crashed into an electric pole made of concrete along East Avenue, after Lorenzo tried to avoid a tricycle suddenly swerving towards their path.

[31] At his funeral he was accorded an adulation reserved only for heroes, and thousands walked miles to escort his remains to their final resting place.

Lino Brocka's name has been included on Bantayog ng mga Bayani's Wall of Remembrance, which recognizes heroes and martyrs who fought against martial law in the Philippines under Ferdinand E.

In his address to the audience, Salonga said, "We promise their relatives that we will never forget their sacrifices so that the light of justice may never be extinguished in this country whose fertile soil was washed by their blood.

"[41] Brocka, Behn Cervantes, and Howie Severino were arrested by officers from the Northern Police District at a protest rally in 1985 while Ferdinand Marcos was still president.

In a decision issued after the EDSA People Power Revolution that ousted Marcos, the Supreme Court ruled that the criminal proceedings against Brocka et al. amounted to persecution and were "undertaken by state officials in bad faith.