Films
Mike de Leon | 1982
Kakabakaba Ka Ba?
Disclaimer: This musical farce is a work of fiction. But no disclaimer can dampen the shots fired here by master writer-director Mike de Leon against Jesuit education; China and Japan’s tendency to meddle in Filipino affairs; and a myriad of other cinematic critiques on corrupt institutions.
Mike de Leon
Mike De Leon 8-Film Box Set
Discover the work of one of the greatest men in Philippine cinema. The eight feature films presented in this restored box set capture the portrait of an essential filmmaker, whose filmography scrutinizes the evolution of Filipino society with disconcerting audacity and stylistic power.
Glenn Barit | 2019
Cleaners
A rambunctious batch of students rebel against expectations to be good and clean. Every frame of Cleaners is xerox'ed and hand-coloured, providing a deeply nostalgic outlook on growing up in the Philippines in the early 2000s.
Marilou Diaz-Abaya | 1983
Karnal
When Narcing brings home his wife, it sets off a series of events that include parricide, infidelity, betrayal, guilt and redemption. Karnal examines how filial loyalty can also be a form of bondage that supports patriarchy and the subjugation of women.
Elwood Perez | 1985
Silip: Daughters of Eve
Silip: Daughters of Eve is an absolute masterpiece of "bold film". After the lifting of Martial Law, the local film industry quickly jumped on the bandwagon with, among other things, this wild, brutal and uncompromising chronicle of the customs and practices of a remote village.
Lino Brocka | 1982
Cain and Abel
Part high-pitched melodrama, part allegory for the rampant bellicosity of the Philippines under Ferdinand Marcos, part timeless Biblical retelling, Lino Brocka’s Cain and Abel is a powerful introduction to the pulpier side of the National Artist of the Philippines.
Marilou Diaz-Abaya | 1983
Moral
Four best friends are graduating from UP, their paths diverging in significant ways. From anti-Marcos resistance to American culture creeping to new values being put in practice, Moral is a novelistic examination of an evolving Philippine society heading into the 80s.
Pio de Castro III | 1984
Soltero
Soltero is a realistic yet tender reflection on urban solitude. Masterfully portrayed by star Jay Ilagan, this restrained film highlights the emotions, weaknesses, and inner conflicts of a man—contrary to traditional ideals of masculinity of the time.
Raya Martin | 2020
Death of Nintendo
Enter into the pop-culture world of 13-year old friends in 1990s Manila, back in the days when video games were still a novelty. They go on a journey of self-discovery together as they play games and wrestle with new dilemmas — puppy love, circumcision and other horror stories.
Erik Matti | 2018
Buy Bust
Erik Matti's ultraviolent action blockbuster goes beyond easy moral binaries to highlight how Duterte’s warped worldview has made monsters out of everyone from the police to the peddlers to the ordinary people in between, all of them doing the bloody bidding of a corrupt political class.
Dwein Baltazar | 2018
Oda sa Wala
A powerful meditation on the universal longing for connection in increasingly precarious and isolated times. The art-horror hybrid unfolds in a languid and hypnotic manner – every careful shot oozing with the palpable texture of rot, humidity and crushing loneliness.
Lupita Aquino-Kashiwahara | 1976
Minsa'y Isang Gamu-gamo
A timeless, galvanizing, anti-imperialist classic conceived as a protest film against the unending occupation of the Philippines by foreign powers, Minsa'y Isang Gamu-gamo gives their wings back to those attracted and irrevocably burned by the flame of the American Dream.