Quote:
A Filipino poet hearkens back to his village after spending years in Europe. Horrified to discover that the community has been buried under landslides, he begins wandering through the countryside, reconnecting with friends, lovers and family members whose lives teeter on the brink of destruction.Read More »
Upon his departure from his home in Baguio, the road trip of the director’s youngest son, Kabunyan, begins. He stops at certain places along the way, engaging in conversation with various companions – often artists – in between drives.Read More »
Stories of Filipino men and women, and other living things passing through similar objects, familiar spaces, non-linear time and dreams alike–all connected from the lens and experience of a stranger, an Alien whose language is disconnected and demands an interaction from the viewer to reconnect these stories to find their own meaning.Read More »
Quote:
Down in the streets of Manila, Raul (Raul Arellano) works as a coolie under miserable conditions and for a small wage which does not even cover his monthly rent. To add to his growing frustration, he has to ask his boss for some time off work in order to see his sick father back in his home village in the countryside. Unable to convince his boss, he finally quit his job.Read More »
Wanting to quit sex work in Manila and start a new life elsewhere, Sofia, a transgender woman (played by the director himself, Vincent Sandoval), gets her chance when an old friend asks Sofia to look after her 12-year-old son Tomas while she works overseas for a year. Sofia packs her bags and moves to Talisay, a small town, where she reinvents herself as Donna, guardian of young Tomas. As she’s about to settle into this quiet, idyllic life, the past creeps up on Donna– she discovers that town mayor Tiongson who is seeking re-election is a crony of her regular client back in Manila, Verano. Determined to erase any trace of her past from her new life with Tomas, Donna discreetly hatches a plan to remove Tiongson from power and rid the town of Verano’s influence. As election season begins, Donna offers to help the campaign of Tiongon’s opponent, who is unaware of Donna’s true motives. To finance his campaign, Donna decides to return to Manila once a week for sex work – under the guise of joining gay beauty pageants. As the stakes get higher, Donna realizes that there is no easy way out of the double life she is leading.Read More »
Filipino director Vincent Sandoval follows his transgender drama Senorita with a story about nuns living in a remote convent during the Marcos yearsRead More »
Synopsis : Somewhere in Manila, a crime boss rules with an iron fist. He uses religion and violence to stay in power. What superstition and razzle dazzle don’t accomplish, his goons do. To his most loyal henchman he gives the task of guarding his woman, who is headstrong and impulsive, and often gets into trouble. Before long, she falls in love with the henchman, and the star-crossed lovers decide to leave town. Fighting ensues. It is while on the run that they finally get to know each other for the first time…Read More »
Ishmael Bernal’s opus recreates the quality and slow pace of life in a dying village surrounded by the sea as it is caught in the eternal cycle of love and hate, of fertility and pollution, of birth and death. A bold and successful attempt to depart from the usual commercial fare, it cryptically paints a large, bleak canvas showing rural fold and how their chances at redemption and happiness are irreversibly decimated by poverty, ignorance, neglect and the dark side of big business.
The only existing 35mm copy (with Japanese subtitles) of the film was found in Fukuoka City Public Library Archive, thus the Japanese hardcoded subs.Read More »
KONTROBERSYAL is one of the classic masterpieces of acclaimed stage and film director, Lino Brocka, in the historical period of the 80’s. A story set in the glitter and glamour of showbiz world. Behind the bright lights, fabulous costumes and larger-than-life sets, real lives are broken and shattered for the hunger for fame and the thirst for money. Karina Daluz (played by Gina Alajar) was blinded by the ill promise of success offered by her producer Mers Madsen (played by Charo Santos). Her walk toward the path to stardom entailed her sanity and corrupted her soul. Her innocence was replaced by wickedness and her once good-natured self, has become the demon that she feared. No love that is forever, no hope to discover for all the people living in KONTROBERSYAL.Read More »