Discoveries from Philippines World Cinema

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

Balat-sibuyas: Directed by Francis Posadas. With Halina Perez, Leandro Baldemor, Jeanette Joaquin, Allen Dizon.

The story of Tomas Karingal, who was gunned down serving as the chief of the Quezon City Police Department.

Sizzling Sex Scenes “Threesome” is the ultimate 3 in 1 collection of the best selling Sizzling Sex Scenes series.

A once hit talent search TV show is facing cancellation due to low ratings. Through desperation they hire the hottest show hosts in the business! Who also happen to want each other dead! Can they save their show before the hosts kill each other?

A musical-dramatic production starring Fernando Poe.

The walk of ruins, bruised reputations, and questionable existence. Based on a poem written by Mark Joko Almajose

An anthology of four stories that capture love and resilience. Featuring Sampaguita Pictures’ biggest stars.

Two young siblings go on a fantastical adventure to satiate their much-coveted and delectable craving for batsoy.

It is a story of three areas in Negros Occidental struggling to uphold their right to land and food security.

As she prepares for a pageant, Lems does a monologue in front of a mirror.

Trapped in a cargo ship during the lockdown, Kerel, a gay Filipino seafarer escapes through his memory, and recalls his complicated past, present, and future self. The hybrid experimental documentary fiction film is an evocation of the complexities of personal and national identity prescribed by one’s memory. The film mixes archival images with texts, filmed and found footage to weave the complex narrative from the perspective of a seafarer stranded at sea, confronted by Chinese ships while recalling his relationship with himself, his lover, his family, and his country.

A no-budget film that delves into every nook and cranny of an abandoned house in order to tell the tale of its long-forgotten owners.

A grandmother waiting for his grandson's return amidst the COVID-19 lockdown teaches herself the art of playing piano, with the hopes that one day she'd be able to play it in front of her grandson.

Everyone is dealing with the lockdown brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, face to face classes were not permitted but education must continue in the “new normal setting”. The short film will follow the journey of Abby, a teacher tasked to distribute and retrieve self-learning modules to an isolated and disadvantaged area in Mindanao.

Bored with his daily routine, an athlete travels to Zambales with his best friend. In the surfing town of Liwa-Liwa, they meet a mysterious girl who sends mixed signals to the two friends. What happens after remains unclear.

Julie shares how she started creating art and how it became a way to come to terms with the trauma she experienced when she was a child.

A group of six friends go on a camping hike in a remote forest. They wanted to see and experience nature in all of their trips. But this trip won't be the same with all their previous trips. They will experience strange things that may or may not strengthen their friendship.

The story of Jose Abad Santos is weaved together through interviews with descendants, top World War 2 Philippine historians, official documents, and excerpts from articles written by Abad Santos' son, Pepito, who was with his father through his last days.

This story will show the real life of being so innocent of knowing the cause of damage of Sarangani Bay. With such an incredible amount of waste taking over in Sarangani Bay, you will witness here the changes of behavior of the Ocean. The threats of improper waste disposals, pose to the health of Sarangani Bay. Inadequate protection and less discipline will create irreversible damage and destroys the most important food source of the world.

Kado is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community. But, because of his gender identity, society treated him unfairly; he faced discrimination, insults, and harassment from individuals who did not accept him for who he was, including his father. His sacrifices and efforts for helping his family was not recognized, he was thirsty for love and acceptance, and was even despised by some for who he was. The severe treatment he received from those around him caused him to doubt his own worth, which had a negative impact on his mental health. He sought assistance, such as counseling, and was given the opportunity to rebuild his self-confidence.

Ron and Jim used to be dance partners. Both have chosen different paths. Confronted by realities of the pandemic and mental health issues both are driven to confront their lives and if they will ever get to dance again. Together.

Three years have passed, Riff returns home, seeking a chance to be with his ex, but now his friend, Jerome, for a second time. But an unexpected act leads him into losing him forever - just as how Orpheus loses a chance to be with Eurydice.

A vaudeville Chaplin impressionist, in love with the star singer of their troupe, helps her deal with the attention of three infatuated audience members who refuse to leave her alone.

Distant childhoods are examined between two families: a Filipino family residing in the Philippines, and a Fil-Am family residing in the United States, through a series of vacation trip stills taken five years apart from each other.

Our mother is our first teacher, and our teacher is our second mother. Good Morning, Class! is a story of a High School teacher named Camille, who still manages to smile in front of her students despite the struggle she's experiencing to balance her duty in school and at home due to the ongoing effect of the global pandemic.

A lesbian struggles to live with her girlfriend who is troubled by her terrifying past.

A young boy wanders around their new house given by a mysterious man named Mang Harold.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, amidst the rising number of cases, two families remember their loved ones as more than a statistic.

Mark had a wonderful relationship with his wife, Anna. Unfortunately, as unplanned life is, Anna passed away and one year was enough for Mark to reach his breaking point.

Aspiring performer Dani finds solace and emancipation in a dilapidated theater her family takes care of. In the space forgotten by time, she confronts the tragic fate a woman faced almost four decades ago.

Ang Mga Nawalang Pag-asa at Panlasa features the struggles being faced by our local food entrepreneurs and how they are slowly rising amidst the challenges of this health crisis.

Laura, a transgender woman, is a reformed sex worker living a quiet life in the country. But she can't seem to shake off the lure of the big city. A consummate actress, she manages leads a double life but as her lies begin to unravel, will she be able to keep her two worlds separate?

Short film by Raymond Red.

Dikoy and his family encountered a folkloric element. The conflict arises when Dikoy's father died and the element was believed to cause to event. As the story goes on, Dikoy experienced an unexpected event while he was seeking for the truth

A pensive man wearing an empty ID jacket and a broken watch drifts through public spaces on the way home.

"Philippine Bliss" tells the tale of six modern-day Filipinos living in a single neighborhood, a housing project called B.L.I.S.S., started by the former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos during the Martial Law era. These people, whose names allude to familiar characters from Jose Rizal's novels, narrate their private yet vivid stories of loss, longing, and Third World despair, all intersecting in a public arena that is their packed community. Theirs are lives seen with an oftentimes comic eye, unabashedly bound by a wild and brimming sense of Filipino hope.

Vince meets his friend Mariel's cousin, Sid, who came from Manila for a vacation. And their story starts from there,..or will it?

The towns feared righteous gunslinger gets a son but cowardly one, when he grew up was cast away by for being a coward, till he met a man that changed his life.

An exploration of how we use the masks as our new faces in these trying times. It shows a perspective of what life is like during the pandemic through poetry, metaphor, movements, and the use of painted masks.

Filming in a Time of Uncertainty is a short documentary film that follows a small team of filmmakers, who are based in the region in Mindanao, as they struggle to shoot a film amidst the trying times of the pandemic. And how they were able to comply with the community's minimum health guidelines, while observing the basic health care, in spite of the intricacies of the film industry’s standard health protocols.

A subdued worker serves a swollen man bound in an endless cycle of simultaneous consumption and defecation. A series of unprecedented events follow after the worker is forcibly laid off.

From Tales from the Camp: Bonfire Stories - a collection of films created by the new voices and personalities of Philippine cinema that explore tales developed or discovered during the 2015 Davao Ngilngig Film Camp.

A girl takes a stroll through the woods when she is pursued by an unidentified entity. Later, she discovers that the entity is a visitor she has been expecting all along.

Documentary film about the town of Pulilan, Bulacan, known for the “Pestibal ng Lumuluhod na Kalabaw”

An Igorot elderly woman, while cooking lunch on a Sunday, suddenly hears distant explosions triggering her to go out of her home.

A young girl tries to escape another unwanted encounter with her priest uncle when she goes with her mother to church for confession.

Repetitive camera movements combined with protest songs to produce a strident political statement.

As Covid-19 continues to spread, being quarantined at home is a new experience and a new normal, but jolly Yugin finds a way to escape boredom by playing numbers on his phone and sending messages to random people. Mike, an impetuous guy on the other hand, replied to the random message he received. What will happen if two strangers meet unexpectedly? Will they be lovers, friends, or will they stay as strangers?

History is a bitch, and so is catching up with an old flame.

A day in the life of body modification enthusiast, DeeDee Villegas.

International contemporary artists and long-time partners David Medalla and Adam Nankervis talk about their journey and gay marriage in the Philippines.

An American suffers prejudice and rejection, and ends up violently antisocial.

An impulsive young adult hasn’t experienced life to the fullest, and her mother’s high parental expectations put a strain on their relationship. During the day of her mother’s birthday celebration, she accidentally hits someone in a desolated road, where she decides to do everything to disregard the victim so she will not be affiliated with the crime with Mature Nature as an observer in this immersive and visceral short that explores the meaning of responsibility in today’s society.

Set in a chaotic market place in a small province, a young vegetable vendor seeks vengeance against a meat vendor, who is also the leader of a gang of butchers collecting “bribes” from other vendors in the market. He, his brother, and father are bullied by the leader. He picks a fight with this butcher hoping to be able to beat him up someday. When this butcher hurts his younger brother, he resolves to practice hard to get even. The task at hand may be more difficult than he imagines, but he is willing to kill and be killed in this fight.