Discoveries from Philippines World Cinema

While clearing his apartment, a jaded young man discovers that he can talk to his long-dead father through an old tin can telephone that he made with his dad.

High school student, Adie Gonzales, doesn’t care much about politics, until a haunting dream pulls her into a terrifying reality. Driven by a newfound sense of purpose, Adie is thrown into a world of fear and danger. Will she find the strength to confront the darkness and reveal the truth, or will she become its next victim?

A hopeless romantic and a serious pragmatic store-hop for their favorite music album, where they either find the elusive CD album or find true love.

This seven-minute animated documentary features three stalwarts of the Philippine animation industry Avid Liongoren (animated films Saving Sally and Hayop Ka!), Tanya Yuson (animated series Trese), and Luis Suarez (animated film RPG Metanoia) as they discuss the challenges they faced in the industry.

A fan becomes excited when The Beatles announce a tour in Manila. Shot on Super 8mm.

When the clock hits 12 midnight, a sinister event unfolds.

ALON is a story about a young adult who is going through an identity crisis in his twenties, dealing with self-doubt, peer pressure, insecurities, low self-esteem, and feeling anti-mattering or insignificant. The story will depict a young man's monologues in which he compares himself to the waves of the sea and describes and rants about his current life position, particularly his troubles with not achieving something at his age. To connect with people, he will share his own life experiences that other people are probably going through at the moment as if he’s representing and speaking directly on behalf of the viewers.

Huwag no ng itanong: Directed by F.C. Gargantilla. With Gladys Reyes, Angelika Dela Cruz, Cherry Pie Picache, Melissa Mendez.

Kontra Bandido is a 1986 Filipino action comedy film co-written and directed by J. Erastheo Navoa and starring Ramon Zamora, Rey Malonzo, Paquito Diaz, Bernardo Bernardo, Janice Jurado, Lito Pastrana, Max Alvarado, Arlene Muhlach, and Niño Muhlach.

A story about a little orphan boy adopted by his uncle.

This avant-garde, associative collage equates the system’s relationship to Filipino citizens as a marriage. But instead of a wedding full of majestic gestures, we witness a tyrannical system led by a conductor-like figure representing colonial domination and a military regime. The work, which was created under German cinematographer Christoph Janetzko's direction, borrows on archived records from such classic Filipino documentary filmmakers as Nick Deocampo and Ricky Orellana.

Manila, 1896. A troubled wife confides to a priest, wanting to find solace for her husband’s sins. But when the priest uncovers a plot that will endanger the church and the state, the usual confession quickly turns into a fire-and-brimstone interrogation.

Three women brought together by fate. Three women trapped in the sex trade. Together, they strive to fight life's many battles.

At a young age, Jade was introduced to the incredible world of cooking. How it caused an impact on his life, made him a very optimistic person.

A crazy hitman puts on his best performance to impress a gorgeous singer.

Three individuals are caught in a web of lies, crime and murder.

A deaf young woman, whose disability is a post-traumatic repercussion of the corrupt Marcos regime, sneaks out to her childhood home and retrieves her old CDs in an attempt to regain her hearing while Filipinos overthrow the dictator in EDSA.

Raya Martin's award-winning short film Bakasyon is about a young girl who goes to the province to take care of her grandma, where she discovers strange and mysterious things about her lola's identity. The 15-minute film won the Ishmael Bernal Award for Young Cinema at the Cinemanila in 2004.

The film features John, Jennycel, and Lola Ester--three generations of pebble pickers who will be affected by Department of Environment and Natural Resources' (DENR's) moratorium intended to protect the pebbles or stones along the shorelines of Barangay Nalvo Norte, Luna, in La Union. What will happen to them and the rest of the other pebble pickers when the moratorium is started? Are they ready to face the reality of losing their livelihood for the sake of protecting the environment?

A documentary that provides a critical glimpse into a day in the life of Monica Tanglao, a young Aeta student who tirelessly aspires to finish her schooling amidst the multitude of challenges that directly and indirectly violate her and her community’s basic rights, especially her right to education.

Together again Mr. and Miss No 1. The Much-Acclaimed Love Team. In the Most Sophisticated Comedy of the Year.

One day, a sudden black out takes place in Masayahin street where a 16 years old gamer, leaves his virtual world for a while and went outside to see the reality.

Miggy, a videographer who just lost a loved-one, tries to recollect their memories by creating a video about that person. But his hesitance and apparent lack of definition about 'love' brings him to Alexandra, a newfound strange friend from the internet.

A man hooks up with a woman some years ago. When they meet again, he hopes that it can grow more than just being a one-night stand.

Balsakan is Pangasinan word for rosary. In pangasinan, there is a belief that during the funeral, the dead should hold a rosary. To be his/her guidance to step up to heaven. But the moment that the dead will be buried, the rosary should break or cut otherwise, they will be another person in the family to die and the worst is it would be one after another. The story involves two generations that will suffer the curse of a demonic rosary.

A slice of a make-believe world where an ordinary man is placed in extraordinary circumstances that weaved three interconnected characters together – the hero, his love, and the myth.

Shot entirely using mobile phones during the global pandemic, the persona journeys to escape the enigma of the mind, space, and thoughts. However, the persona realizes that this will eventually lead to discovering that some things may never set anything free.

Today is Wednesday.

As a child was innocently playing with their friends, an interruption comes along.

Three scientists from Central surveillance and discuss their final experiment on Hiyasmin-124. Siglo (Century) recounts the dilemma of the characters in the dystopian world with limited technological and medical advances that could make or break Central’s viscous cycle.

Ani is a seven-year-old ordinary child. Despite being cheerful inside their home with her grandmother, she hides the pain/anguish that she tries to conceal with her smiles.

A story about widower Mang Nano and his special child Bitoy. Every time a mishap happened the father would cry out to the picture of his departed wife Sendang.

A brave battle against grief, anger and injustice. Mang Jerry finds ways to earn enough money to get his son, a victim of extra judicial killings, out of the funeral home.

A fusion of my love of literature and film. About how I perceive artificial lighting.

Through her own family's memories of struggle, Adjani unravels the story of war-torn Southern Philippines as an endless attempt at survival and adaptation to state policies that disregard the most basic concept of home.

Lab Kita Bilib Ka Ba is 1994 Filipino Action-Romance film

A film with Nini Jacinto, Miya Nolasco, Sofia Valdez, Rodel Velayo, Matthew Mendoza, Chanda Romero, and Maureen Mauricio

In the midst of an ongoing siege, a reluctant child combatant finds a safe place to pray where he meets a newly orphaned, infidel boy who seeks refuge in the unknown.

Still grieving her best friend’s death, Clarissa is unexpectedly invited to a Noche Buena with the late friend’s family. Throughout the night, the truth behind her friend’s death begins to unravel.

A 73-year-old woman is physically and emotionally exhausted from caring for her ailing husband who is already in the last stage of his Alzheimer's Disease. He lives in a constant state of confusion and anxiety, occasionally haunted by visions of both faceless and familiar strangers. The wife's frustration and loneliness grows daily as she comes to terms with both her husband's deteriorating state and her own mortality.

A production thesis by Sasha B. Palomares

One summer, Boni witnesses people transforming into animals and returning to the wilderness, only to find his grandmother slowly becoming a St. Peter Fish — glug glug glug.

Carlo, a left-handed teenager struggles to break free from his father’s rigid expectations, using his art to express a truth that once tore their family apart.

Across a white void, old documents and items come to life and speak: a cacophony of archival sounds and voices of youth growing up in an elite all-boys' private Catholic high school in the Philippines bursts through as the country undergoes great change and political turmoil. Navigating these systems of influence, power, and control, both the documents and repressed voices seek their own means of liberation, as lines break out of formation and colored ink spills out of the pages.

Khavn has produced an atmospheric and stirring video for the song “Dead Woman in My House” by Los Chupacabras, a Manila-based band, who where formed in 2003 and disbanded in 2008.

The Cultural Center of the Philippines weaves distinct cultures and continues its Paskong Pinoy traditions to celebrate the joyous season this December with BINURDA, an amazing holiday production featuring the hottest artists and performers in the country such as the Bayanihan, The National Dance Company of the Philippines, the Nightingales, the Male Ensemble of the Philippines (MEP), and surprise performers.

An anthropomorphic cloud shares how it achieves small wins in this natural cycle of life, one that dwells on the commonality that suggests “mga ulap tayong nagiging ulan".

In the year 2034, the rules have changed. A young boy was awakened by every child's worst nightmare.

A group of farcical elite of mercenaries made up of dysfunctional members was hired and formed to rescue a group of kidnapped beauty queens and a gay pageant organizer from the hands of a retarded rebel group led by an insane insecure queen Madame Butterfly whose initial plan was only to kidnap Angela Mo Ray from the Kingdom of Kwe Kwe for a hefty amount of money as ransom.

Ilyse and Ella's love for each other endures despite the distance between them -- but are text messages and shared memories enough to sustain them through an uncertain future? Set in the backdrop of a rural and urban Philippines, Wish That You Were Here is a love letter to those in the closet.

Grief catches up to a young girl as she becomes conscious of the floor's unfamiliarity.

Somewhere in San Pablo, Laguna, Chance, a college student on hiatus, insults people online using a burner account to make himself feel better. He has a condition that impacts his mobility, so he bashes people out of insecurity. Chance finds peace from his loving mother who is his sole family, and his online girlfriend whom he had never met or seen. When the couple finally decide to meet-up, Chance discovers that he has become a victim of his own blind judgment.

A friend group attempts to keep their bond alive and strong as they prepare for the last culminating activity before the academic year comes to an end.

In an attempt to recreate their favorite TV Show, kids Nonoy and Bonbon defy the rules of physics as they live their fantasies as Kalantiaw and Dueom in this feel-good, nostalgic short.

The story of a heart-warming relationship between a struggling painter and his deaf son named Dakila.