Mae Paner is a Filipino activist, political satirist, and actress.
Early life and education
Mae Paner was born to a family with seven children. She is the second eldest among siblings. She attended the University of Santo Tomas (UST) where she majored in psychology.[1]
Career
Theater and advertising
She began her acting career in theater in the 1970s when she was still attending UST. She would become an actress and a production assistant. By the time she reached her 20s, Paner is already directing audio-visual presentations. By around this time her elder sibling and father had died, which meant that she had to take care of her younger siblings and mother who is already bedridden.[1]
Her background in theater helped her land a role in television commercials. In 1984, Motion Grafix tapped her service to play the antagonist role of "Shellane" in a commercial for their client Petron. She was offered the role of production assistant after filming. She also served as a partner for production companies Electromedia and Click Digital Post. She has since left the advertising industry.[1][2]
Her was part of the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA). She joined the Panata sa Kalayaan of PETA in the late 1980s as an actress and head stage manager. After the conclusion of the world tour, she became tour director.[1]
In 2013, Paner starred in the 2013 sex comedy film Juana C the Movie. In the film which also tackled political themes such as corruption, she played the role of Juana Change.[4]
Paner would direct and perform the 2021 film Tao Po which was adopted from a theater play. The film tackled the issue of extrajudicial killings.[5]
Activism
Paner owes her involvement in politics through her participation in theater. She and her colleagues would take part in protest against the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos. She was arrested in 1984 but was released. In contemporary times, she is more focused on doing "performance activist", dressing up as characters as part of her activism.[1]
Paner is best known for her character as "Juana Change".[1] The character was first featured in a YouTube parody series produced by the Artists Movement, a group of anti-corruption activists which Paner founded. Through Juana, Paner intends to encourage change in Philippine political politics.[7] The YouTube series was launched in December 2008.[8]
