Stranded in the Philippines during World War II, a young girl finds that her duty to protect her dying mother is complicated by her misplaced trust in a beguiling, flesh-eating…
Set against the drug wars in the Philippines, Maria’s husband is murdered in mysterious circumstances and is left to fend for her three children in a police state. As she…
Filipino director Adolfo Alix Jr. returns to the Festival with this timely story of a couple caught up in Rodrigo Duterte’s violent war on drugs when their son goes missing.
Toto, a teenage orphan, is recruited by a notorious death squad. Irma, the groups leader, soon becomes a maternal figure to the young boy. As the two form a familial…
Divina is preparing for her daughter Rowena’s 13th birthday when she hears shocking news: her daughter has been attacked by a crocodile, her body still missing. As Divina searches for…
An embittered law student commits a brutal double murder; a family man takes the fall and is forced into a harsh prison sentence; a mother and her two children wander…
The tale of an activist’s journey during the turbulent years of Martial Law, until his capture in the mountains and the dark, nine years of imprisonment that followed, leading to…
Orphan Carding befriends Army Captain Samuel Corazon, who’s stationed in his town to root out the remaining Huk guerrillas. At the dance hall, Corazon woos dancer Lauriana, and they soon…
A countryside dramedy (drama-comedy) that follows 14-year-old Diana and her younger brother who live by themselves after their mother went abroad and their father lived with another woman. Set in…
This is the story of Visayans coming to the MetroManila area in search of greener pastures. Dodong Valderama, a jack-of-trades orphan, and Santo Nino devotee, sis among them, trying his…
Lilet Never Happened is the rollercoaster story of how a young girl, struggling to survive in the streets of Manila, spirals down into child prostitution. She is a fighter. She…
Julian is a soldier stationed on a remote island in the Philippines. He has finished his three months of service on the island and is ready to leave, but news…
Sarah is a nurse at a Public Maternity Hospital. The hospital is abuzz with pregnant mothers of all shapes and sizes in different stages of labor. The hospital is short…
An ex-seminarian slash communist runs a hotel in Baguio. He then meets a handsome upcoming lawyer. A once-a-year trip to Baguio by the lawyer and conversations with the hotel owner…
Natoy, like any other child, finds joy and excitement in the simplest of things, especially in eating halo-halo filled with pink gelatin and red sago. Things change suddenly when, as…
The Game of Juan’s Life explores two hours in the life of Juan Reyes, a live-sex performer at an underground gay bar, who has decided to leave Manila and go…
Mario and his brother Alonso become committed to fishing in a coral-reef in the southern Philippines. With many other children of different origin they work for starvation wages on the…
Adela, a former radio personality, celebrates her 80th birthday. Alone, and without support, she longs for the family and stability of years gone by. Mundane events take on heightened meaning…