PAGDIRIWANG PHILIPPINE FESTIVAL
Khavn de la Cruz’ Amen
(9 minutes)
Amen is a “brown comedy” about the Filipino tradition of “mano”: placing the hand of an elder on one’s forehead as a sign of respect. Khavn De La Cruz is a Filipino poet, musician, filmmaker, and festival director of .MOV International Film, Music, and Literature Festival.
JV Argañosa’s What Goes Around
Comes Around
(2 minutes)
This is a short parable about taking care of our environment. JV Argañosa is a graduate of the International Academy of Film and Television in Cebu City, Philippines, and is currently a Sound engineer in Manila.
Ronald Lagman’s Tapat sa Pangako (Committed)
(9 minutes)
Tapat sa Pangako is a non-dialogue short film about choices. It was screened at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner.
Ronald Lagman is a Filipino-American filmmaker based in Tacoma, and is part of the Tacoma Film Collective.
Sher Bautista’s Biyernes Santo (Good Friday)
(6 minutes)
A man reminisces about his past, questions his faith, and in the process, allows us to see a small part of the Holy Week tradition in a small sleepy town in the Philippines. Sher Bautista is a freelance screenwriter for local film and TV in Manila. She has just wrapped writing the first season of a local cable series, “The Boston, A Kitchen Musical”.
Therese Cayabas’ Home
(5 minutes)
Therese worked on TV and films in Singapore and Manila. Her screenplay, "Oras", was a finalist for the Metro Manila Film Festival's New Wave category and her screenplay won Film Academy of the Philippine's Sine Panitik.
Joni Gutierrez’ Hamsit
(12 minutes)
Hamsit is a meditative, almost documentary-style film about a family trying to compromise between their heritage as Filipinos and their current lives in the US. This is depicted by the mother making “Hamsit”, her own version of pansit with ham, during Mother’s Day.
Joni Gutierrez is a filmmaker and assistant professor at the University of the Philippines Film Institute, and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Communication and Film Studies in Hong Kong where he is currently based.
Al Alarilla’s Ang Paglilinis (The Cleansing)
(20 minutes)
This short documentary explores Mt. Banahaw, which is not only a holy site for many religious organizations, but also one of the most important biodiversity hotspots in the Philippines. When pilgrims gather on the Mountain during Holy Week and leave their trash behind, problems start for the community as well as natural resources in the area. Al Alarilla is a photographer filmmaker, and recent graduate from the University of the Philippines.
Vivian Limpin and Ma. Kathrina S. Loreños’s Kunyang
(20 minutes)
Six women narrate their stories of working in Hong Kong as domestic helpers in hopes for a better life. They share their dreams, their frustrations and their daily successes while always looking out across the sea to the place they still call home. Kat Loreños is a filmmaker, animator and art educator. As a Tsinoy artist, she is interested in issues of migration and identity. Vivian Limpin is a multi-disciplinary artist and teacher at the Ateneo de Manila University.
Chasmon Tarimel's (S)pacific Spaces
(7 minutes)
This short documentary explores Pacific Islander spaces at the University of Washington Seattle Campus. Chasmon Tarimel is a graduate of the UW, where he was active within the Pacific Islander community.
Adrian Alarilla’s To Manong Carlos
(To Brother Carlos)
(16 minutes)
This video epistle dedicated to the late writer and activist Carlos Bulosan explores Filipino American conditions over time, discovering that no matter how much things have changed, the pursuit of the American Dream persists. Adrian Alarilla is a writer and filmmaker from Quezon City, now based in Seattle. His films have been shown at various Asian American Film Festivals in the US and Philippines.
Quark Henares’ Rakenrol
(113 minutes)
Featuring Jason Abalos, Ramon Bautista, Glaiza de Castro. Rakenrol is about two outsiders who find a second home in the Philippine underground music scene. They decide to form a band and put together an unlikely crew. Quark Henares is a director and actor, known for making various music videos for Filipino bands, as well as a number of films: Rakenrol (2011), Keka (2003) and Gamitan (2002).
Raya Martin’s Independencia
(77 minutes)
Featuring Alessandra de Rossi, Sid Lucero, Tetchie Agbayani. Recalling the early period of films, Independencia recreates the period of the Philippine revolution. It’s the first Filipino film to be screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. Raya Martin is a director and writer based in the Manila. He was the first Filipino filmmaker to be accepted in Cinéfondation Résidence of the Cannes Film Festival, and is one of the foremost young Filipino filmmakers today.
John Torres’ Todo Todo Teros
(110 minutes)
Film critic Noel Vera described this film as part video collage of found footage, part espionage drama, part meditation on relationships, Todo Todo Teros explores post-9/11 Manila: the sights, sounds, excitement, energy, and somewhere, love. John Torres is a director and producer. Besides having won Best Cinematography at the Cinema One Originals Digital Film Festival in 2008, his films have also been shown in many international film festivals all over the world.
Kidlat Tahimik’s Mababangong Bangungot (Perfumed Nightmare)
(93 minutes)
Made and distributed with the assistance of Werner Herzog and Francis Ford Coppola back in 1977, Mababangong Bangungot is a classic in independent cinema. Fashioned out of found documentary footage as well as scenes the director shot with his handheld 16mm film camera, this film is a journey of the Filipino spirit across many lands, only to find its strength once more back home. Kidlat Tahimik is considered the Grandfather of independent Filipino cinema. His works have inspired future generations of Filipino filmmakers. He believes in the sariling dwende, or one’s own dwarf, one’s own spark of creative, one’s being indie-genius.