Discoveries from Philippines World Cinema

A post-silent film on the travails and camaraderie of King Black, King Red, King Blue, King Yellow, King Green, King Purple, & King Orange, the seven rainbow [bahag-hari] kings [hari] of ethnic g-string [bahag] descent. Bouncing in their kombi van, from nature’s forest to the city’s jungle, the Bahag Kings descend from being noble rulers to village idiots as they search high & low for the missing “Wala” [Nothing]. And see how they handled a true-to-life police arrest.

A young man goes to the mountain to escape his reality and while there, he is confronted by events that draw a very thin line between mystery and self-discovery.

Sampaloc Lake - the most prominent of the seven lakes of San Pablo City has provided shelter, employment and inspiration to its immediate community for countless decades. In return, the natural resource suffered from indiscriminate use of the residents themselves and the consequences of rapid urbanization. Recently, the local government have implemented a clearing of all residential structures within the legal easement of the dying lake to pave the way for a tourism master plan that endeavors to balance revenue and environmental protection. In the eve of the clearing operations, film maker Dennis Empalmado documented the final musings of the residents, advocates, and artists whose lives revolved around the 99 hectare crater lake.

An examination of poverty and violence and the influence it has on two boys who live in a slum.

A film by Fea Fortuna

Along a river that undergoes a major change, Baby, a middle-aged transwoman, shuttles between her job as a companion-for-hire for strangers and her duty to her father. As the people around Baby start to disappear, she realizes that she has been left behind in a stagnating city.

A Father forced his son to become a seaman.

Nora, a transwoman seamstress from Tabaco City, Albay, finds herself alone with her sewing machine amid the lockdowns, dealing with how culture and religion have been interrupted.

Examines the history and culture of the Balisong knife, aka "The most romantic knife in the world."

Amid the nation's chaos brought by the Martial Law, Rosa, bruised and battered, runs from her captors as she seeks a safe place to stay. Once she was able to find a place to stay, she documented and narrated her experience as she watched her friend die from torture at the hands of the soldiers. Eventually, the soldiers caught up to her and made her suffer as they held her captive. In the end, she survived and lived through another hell with memories of her past haunting her as Bongbong Marcos Jr. won the presidency in a landslide in 2022.

This documentary features the endangered languages of the Dupaninan Agta in Isabela, and the Tandulanen Tagbanua in Palawan, Philippines. The film follows the journey of Consuelo and Robert against the backdrop of the changing ecosystem in the grasslands of Isabela, where endemic grasses are being slowly displaced by invasive foreign species, and ends in the beaches of Palawan once inhabited by mythological crabs. As a poetic and lyrical rumination on the beauty of words, this docu shows how language is indeed the soul of a culture.

A 2022 Filipino short film.

Martha joins her family in an online game night, but a serious problem is weighing on her. As the family plays, she makes multiple attempts to interrupt the fun and tell them about her problem. Later, she figures out a clever way to reveal it to the family.

Alipato is a portrait of Luis Taruc, the iconic Socialist leader of the revolutionary movement in the Philippines. It explores the political life of Taruc, the collaboration between the Wha Chi (Chinese guerrillas during the Japanese Occupation) and the Hukbalahap, and the politics of the revolution, the in-fighting among the revolutionaries, and the conflict between non-violence and armed revolt. The documentary includes interviews with revolutionaries and well-known personalities like F. Sionil Jose and Fr. James Reuter, S.J. More importantly, the film has revealing footage of Taruc, talking about his principles and concept of peaceful revolution. The voice and ideas of Taruc are like embers or alipatothat can spark insights and enlighten our understanding of history.

An impressionistic portrait of a Philippine metropolis.

Thea, an alien from a different planet, was sent to Earth to observe and determine humanity's worthiness to join the galactic stage. She is befriended by a group of students and learns about what it means to be human.

Joy, a 19-year-old student, is about to compete at the local talent show. As she's about to enter the audition, a mysterious butcher takes her to unknown horizons...

Bomba inspired by the "Swedish New Wave"

Two girls, both desperate to be understood, navigate the push and pull of a single night after one of them overdoses on antipsychotics. They spend the entire night filling their conversations with negotiations between life and death, between memory and oblivion.

A mother and her two daughters battle against time as they prepare the room and cook their eldest daughter’s favorite dish - Ngohiong - who will be arriving from abroad the first time after the pandemic. However, one key ingredient goes missing - the five spice powder. Will they make it on time?

Freshboy's Asia launches its series with a take on the heartthrobs of the campus often fantasized by gay men. The varsity hunk, the charismatic student leader, the cute geek, the neat guy and, the not ordinary guy are but variations to the ideal boy that young college gays want to win their hearts.

A short film by Khirsten Flores.

An Oppo Reno2 short film by Antoinette Jadaone.

Elcid (Robin Padilla) and his buddy, Tembong (Dennis Padilla), decided to go to the capital city of the Philippines, Manila to search for greener pasture but they encounter a series of setbacks and misadventures.

In 1966, Fernando Poe Jr played an off-beat role as Diegong Akyat, a small time crook and burglar. It's an entirely different role for the action king.

Aya is a 16 year old girl, and to her, every day is just the same an escape, an unceasing fear of facing the screen. Not until one day, she chooses to flip the situation and take control of her life.

“Ugat sa Lupa” is a non-dialogue film about a farming family who lives in an island. It dramatizes the family’s hardships living in an island bereft of fresh water, hence their struggle to fetch water from another island to water the plants periodically. It is also about family relationships and sacrifices of elder siblings for the younger ones.

An omnibus seven-part movie.

An estranged grandson and his grieving grandfather reconnect through an unfinished bucket list, healing old wounds and rebuilding their bond.

In the sweltering heat of yet another Manila heatwave, Kevin de la Cruz, long-time aircon repairman, bike-commutes to his next job.

Albert Yearsley, shoots the local Manila Carnival in motion picture.

In a small farming town, a graduating high school girl struggles to convince her distrustful father to allow her to continue her studies in college after her older sister gets pregnant while being sent to the same university.

In the kingdom of Dumalángto ruled by Aetudhaman, the one-eyed king who feeds on people’s blood to gain power, everyone is blind. Meanwhile, Elhanan, a sighted and discerning slave, gets enraged by the evil occurences. Seeing the spread of darkness, famine and injustice, he strives to get hold of the winged horse to attack the one-eyed king and fuel the flames of the masses to rebel against the dominion.

Short and innocent glimpses of human relationships through the lens of a photobooth aching for connection.

GULONG is about friendship, love and life. The story is told from the point-of-view of Apao, a smart, kindhearted boy whose quest for an old bicycle reveals the stuff he is made of.

In a decaying cinema in the heart of Manila, Life discovers first love through films and their new friend’s father.

The night before local elections, a single mother takes her son to a final campaign rally to get his lost scholarship back — unaware that in the midst of the dense crowd, a morbid disaster awaits them.

The son of the Aswang clan leader contends conflict with his father about their differing perspectives on humanity.

The brother of missing activist Jonas Burgos bares in this documentary the untold stories behind the confidential leads, damning evidence, and why the disappearance of his brother remains a relevant case today.

D' Aswang Slayerz is a horror comedy story of Paps (Mel Martinez) and his niece Eve (Athalia Badere) suddenly being informed that they come from a family of "Aswang Slayers". The messenger La Niña (Magdalena Fox) tells them that their hometown in the province is being destroyed by the aswangs and that only Paps and Eve can save the town from the Aswangs. Faced by so much financial burdens in the city, Paps and Eve together with their friend Logan ( GJ Dorado ) decide to join La Niña in the province. This is where their adventure or should we say misadventures begin. They are given amulets to protect themselves and undergo physical training to fight the aswangs. The Queen Aswang (Sharmaine Arnaiz) is informed of the Slayers' arrival in the province and is determined to bring them down. With the help of the Queens right hand man Troy ( Lester Tolentino) Paps falls in love with him but Eve is not happy about it. She is determined to prove that Troy is one of the aswangs.

Gingging, a girl in grade school, dreams of working in the sugarcane field, just like her older brother. Her mother and brother disapprove of this, so Gingging tries to convince them that she can.

Two childhood friends reunite after years of separation, igniting a long hidden passion between the two men.

A young man named Manuel is bound to tolerate his experiences of abuse that leads to the loss of his innocence.

Khavn resurfaces the lost film 'Aswang.' The first film made in the Philippines to feature optically recorded sound was George Musser's Ang Aswang (The Vampire). In 1932, Musser imported 50,000 PHP worth of optical sound equipment and turned his house into a studio. He spent a year shooting the film with Charles Miller as his cinematographer and William Smith as his soundman. Despite its Tagalog title, the film was actually recorded in Spanish and English. The film opened to acclaim at the Lyric on January 1, 1933, then at the Tivoli on January 4. Unfortunately, according to some observers, the sound was sometimes out of sync and inaudible.

Rene, a loving-lollipop crime scene cleaner, who works for criminals, leads himself into a complex situation when he violates the criminal’s order.

Batang Magdalena is a 1998 Filipino true-to-life drama film directed by Bing Reyas and stars Agatha Mulach, Karren Concepcion

Director: Karlo Montero (as Carlo Montero) Writer: Jigs Recto (screenplay) Stars: Norris John, Sofia Lee, Winston De Dios

Stunned by the death of his parents, a struggling teenage boy was forced to look after his siblings while battling against nature which he took for granted, costing the life of his long-lost best friend who visited him.

During a performance, a ventriloquist suddenly finds himself talking with his past. Will he continue the conversation or remain tight-lipped form a voice long kept?

Girls love him, the underworld hates him, and everybody agrees he's unbeatable. Meet the conquering hero Palito, in his new role as James Bone Agent 001, a hilarious action-comedy movie.

An awesome fantasy film by the great TVJ.

This film is a piece of experimental cinema that tackles the displacement and resilience of indigenous refugees (IDPs). No actual dialogue can be heard in front of the camera; Ikil’s voice is only heard as a Voiceover (V.O.). The entire weight of the story relies on intense sound design, poetic timing, and the physical contrast between the chaotic city and the peaceful flow of the river in the province.

The sea is coming, as per Ma’am Kara. The thought fills Sari as she goes home.

Is society to blame for the bruised and twisted minds of a city's slums snarling, growling, and grumbling as they are? "Barkada" awaits your verdict.

The lives of random children from different parts of the Philippines, facing the same predicament of living life of arduous labor to cope with the harsh realities of poverty.

Messina, an outcast and failed fortuneteller returns to her hometown to save her daughter Claire from a syndicate that aims to exploit her gift of fortune telling. When Messina returns, she finds her daughter caught in debt and the squabble of a petty syndicate running a band of fortunetellers for the unwary, desperate answer-seekers. For years, their hometown has been grooming one great fortuneteller just as they had hailed Dorothea as the town's leader. Dorothea is the grandmother of Claire who appears in her dreams. A helpful fortuneteller named Rachel teaches Messina that the only way to save her daughter is to embrace a gift she has vowed to give up, the ability to see the future no matter how bleak and inescapable.