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Reunited: Vilma Santos, Christopher DeLeon, and Eddie Garcia, together again for another dramatic performance. This time, Marilou Diaz-Abaya directs, and this time Eddie Garcia displays his superb acting talent.Read More »

A woman who killed her husband and two other men in a Manila apartment becomes the newest media sensation. In a post-traumatic shock, she refuses to communicate with anyone. A journalist with feminist ideals is drawn to the case and vows to uncover the truth behind the triple murder. She is unfazed by the silence of the accused and seeks out others who may be able to shed light on the gruesome incident.Read More »

A woman who has a child out of wedlock decides to give him away to an orphanage; years later, when she goes back to the orphanage, she discovers that the place does not exist anymore.Read More »

A lady stripper and a gigolo promised each other that their work can’t break them apart. But when lust and temptation come into the picture, they begin to question their vow.Read More »

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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 »

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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 »

A masterpiece of observational ethnographic cinema style.
An Australian feature length documentary about a poverty stricken family living in a squatter’s dwelling in Manila, Phillipines. Doc is set during a three month period and tells the story of two parents with two little children who must sell cigarettes to survive. Ethnographic and anthropological film shows the crises the impoverished family must face and is the winner of a number of awards.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 »

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 »