ALL FILM & TV FEATURES
Home as an Authoritarian Machine: A Film Program
Narratives of betrayal and trauma are common among children, which forces them to confront the harrowing aftermath of it, shaping the next discourse of their lives. Not allowing children the space to heal their scars and find justice will make them feel more powerless—as an authoritarian would expect.
The virtual film program ‘Home as an Authoritarian Machine’ aims to shed light on various narratives of control over children and how the impact of violence towards children is also a cycle of violence perpetuated by a systemic problem that needs radical change.
Riding the Wrong Train to the Right Station: How ‘The Lunchbox’ Redefines Love Beyond Permanence
In ‘The Lunchbox’, a misdelivered meal becomes a story about love that transforms without lasting. Love and meaning don’t need permanence to matter because sometimes the “wrong train” still brings you where you need to go.
You Can Never Kill the Revolution: A Film Program
The legacy of Andres Bonifacio, one of Philippine history’s eminent revolutionary leaders, continues to inspire the masses to struggle for freedom. The virtual film program ‘You Can Never Kill The Revolution’ examines the diverse narratives of the revolutionary spirit, ranging from personal conflicts to collective experiences. The Bonifacios of today are seen in the streets protesting, in the mountains taking arms, and those who are fighting for a better country in their own personal and political means.
Batang Bata Ka Lang: A Film Program
Difficult questions have to be asked if children are truly ready to face the world around them, and growing up is a critical development period for them. But what happens when they are forced to grow too fast?
The virtual film program It’s A Small World Afterall aims to dissect the perspectives of children as they navigate real-world problems as well as their own attempts to understand them. Together, these short films aim to show the different narratives of how children, in their own ways of understanding, navigate their readiness to reality and the need for the space that allows them to develop before taking on the world.
The One with Why We Can’t Stop Watching Sitcoms
I got to visit the FRIENDS Experience: The One in Manila recently. The exhibit was fun despite the long lines, but it also got me thinking about other people's safety blankets: sitcoms.
This Land is Mined: A Film Program
Indigenous People (IP) communities have long found themselves at the epicenter of development aggression and armed conflict. This virtual program aims to shed light on the ongoing displacement of IP communities and their identities.
In the Green House Cinema, Cinephilia Blooms Amid the City’s Noise
Tucked behind a milky-white picket fence in Anda, Rizal Street, one can find the Green House Cinema, a home-turned-cinema that has become a gathering place for filmmakers and storytellers in Davao City. What began as a small experiment has become a blooming creative ecosystem.
The Truth is Out There (And So is My Burnout): How Watching ‘The X-Files’ Became My Solace
It was the summer of 2024 when I discovered ‘The X-Files’ while I (dreadfully) worked from home. While wrestling with work anxieties, watching the fan-favorite sci-fi series became my solace.
Reimaginations and Contradictions of Imagined Memories: A Film Program
The virtual film program ‘Reimaginations and Contradictions of Imagined Memories’ aims to showcase how short films can serve as forms of imagined memory from the youth. Reimaginations of the past that show the same historical atrocities and even ideals of the Marcosian myths that were perpetuated during those times, to the contradictions of the contemporary present that kept challenging the masses themselves, to the current social realities as an effect of these Marcosian myths.
The Silences of ‘Heneral Luna’
Ten years later ‘Heneral Luna’s’ call for a strongman to unite the country has aged poorly. What’s left is the film’s ahistorical mythmaking, a narrative that reinforces the idea that Philippine history is reducible to Tagalog history.
When Third Space Becomes an Escape in ‘At Least We Had This Moment’
Society traps us in an endless loop of home and work. For two lost souls in ‘At Least We Had This Moment,’ finding a third space is resistance.
‘Agapito’ and a Duckpin Alley’s Journey From Bulacan to Beyond
From its humble beginnings in Bulacan to its journey to Cannes and now Toronto, ‘Agapito’ stands not necessarily as a banner for all Filipino stories, but as one story tied to a brother, a father, and a community that keeps a humble duckpin alley alive.
What’s After Drag? Precious Paula Nicole’s Newfound Beat in ‘Lip Sync Assassin’
Three years after their monumental ‘Drag Race Philippines Season 1’ win, Precious Paula Nicole struts down the bedazzled path of drag excellence to full-fledged film royalty in the killer (quite literally) flick Lip Sync Assassin.
For the Love of Mixed Media: A Film Program
The virtual film program ‘For the Love of Mixed Media’ explores how different materials and techniques are applied to contemporary Filipino narratives.
Up, Up and Away! (Again): The Enduring Power of Superman
As he makes his long-awaited comeback on the big screen this year, one has to wonder: Why has Superman endured for so long and what does he mean to us today?
From ‘Moral’ to ‘Sunshine’: A Love Letter to the Filipino Woman
Philippine cinema doesn’t often touch on taboo subjects in the mainstream, but Marilou Diaz-Abaya’s ‘Moral’ and Antoinette Jadaone’s ‘Sunshine’, released four decades apart, are great exceptions. At first glance, they’re just films about unplanned pregnancies, complicated relationships, and the choices that no one wants to talk about in public. But a closer look will reveal that they’re not made to shock—they’re made to care.
Live From My Laptop!
If I could consider laughing a hobby, then ‘Saturday Night Live’ would be my greatest kryptonite. My love for the live sketch comedy show has persisted for nearly a decade, and I don’t think it’s stopping anytime soon.
‘All the Things I Leave You’ and the Stories We Want Pinoy BLs to Tell
Jade Castro’s ‘All the Things I Leave You (Patawid)’ blends the ingredients of the BL genre with an inviting curiosity and reflects how far beyond the sandbox can these stories explore.
Bold-hearted young filmmakers make waves in Sinepiyu 17
Sinepiyu 17, the premier film festival of Far Eastern University, showcased the bold storytelling hearts of this young generation’s up-and-coming filmmakers.
When The Climate Crisis Becomes Personal: An Earth Day Film Program
In this special Earth Day virtual film program, the climate crisis is presented not as a distant threat but as an immediate disruption to intimate spaces, identities, and personal discomfort through 11 Southeast Asian short films.