War Baby

Meet Duewand Collier Jr.-Male, 68 years old, American Citizen, a child conceived in the backdrop of the Philippines-American Mutual Defense Treaty, born and raised with Catholic guilt. He has made peace with his past and now tells his story-a story of love.

Eldest Among the Seven

Sampaloc Lake - the most prominent of the seven lakes of San Pablo City has provided shelter, employment and inspiration to its immediate community for countless decades. In return, the natural resource suffered from indiscriminate use of the residents themselves and the consequences of rapid urbanization. Recently, the local government have implemented a clearing of all residential structures within the legal easement of the dying lake to pave the way for a tourism master plan that endeavors to balance revenue and environmental protection. In the eve of the clearing operations, film maker Dennis Empalmado documented the final musings of the residents, advocates, and artists whose lives revolved around the 99 hectare crater lake.

Return to Manila: Filipino Cinema

Documentary about the history of Philippine cinema.

Jingle lang ang Pahina

Jingle Chordbook Magazine, first published in 1970, promptly taught a generation of Filipinos to play the guitar. Its story also explores how a small independent publication survived the weight of its time – the dark Martial Law years – and how it inspired the Filipino youth to think for themselves and wield the guitar like a weapon. The documentary “Jingle Lang Ang Pahina” tells the story of Jingle, its ragtag crew, and its loyal fans in a rambling, multi-layered narrative told in different voices and perspectives by the writers, artists, fans, collectors, musicians, freaks.

We Were the Scenery

In 1975, soon after the end of the Vietnam War, Hoa Thi Le and Hue Nguyen Che fled the country on a small boat. After nine days at sea, they docked in the Philippines, where they were utilized as background extras for “Apocalypse Now.”

𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮 𝗔𝗻𝗮: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗯 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗹𝗮

The film is about inspiration, reminding the power of collective action, the importance of preserving the heritage of Santa Ana, and the boundless potential that lies within the community. It is a story that deserves to be told, a story that will resonate with audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

ICYMI: I See Me

A music documentary on MNL48, a franchise of the highly successful Japanese idol group, AKB48. The film looks into the girls as they perform within a music subculture that tries to get a foothold in a market of an overtly critical audience.

Appointment in Tokyo

Produced by the Army Pictorial Service, Signal Corps, with the cooperation of the Army Air Forces and the United States Navy, and released by Warner Bros. for the War Activities Committee shortly after the surrender of Japan. Follow General Douglas MacArthur and his men from their exile from the Philippines in early 1942, through the signing of the instrument of surrender on the USS Missouri on September 1, 1945. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

A chronicle of the production problems — including bad weather, actors' health, war near the filming locations, and more — which plagued the filming of Apocalypse Now, increasing costs and nearly destroying the life and career of Francis Ford Coppola.

Le dernier tamaraw

Call Her Ganda

When Jennifer Laude, a Filipina trans woman, is brutally murdered by a U.S. Marine, three women intimately invested in the case--an activist attorney, a transgender journalist and Jennifer's mother)--galvanize a political uprising, pursuing justice and taking on hardened histories of US imperialism.

Machete Maidens Unleashed!

In the final decades of the 20th century, the Philippines was a country where low-budget exploitation-film producers were free to make nearly any kind of movie they wanted, any way they pleased. It was a country with extremely lax labor regulations and a very permissive attitude towards cultural expression. As a result, it became a hotbed for the production of cheapie movies. Their history and the genre itself are detailed in this breezy, nostalgic documentary.

Women Of Malolos

A musical docudrama about the brave and outstanding Women of Malolos to whom Jose Rizal addressed his famous letter in Feb 22, 1898.

The Pirates of Buban

By going to the Philippines, Imamura comes to meet people living in an extreme poverty. He discovers very quickly that some communities are under the control of cruel & armed pirates. Imamura will come to meet those men in order to understand their position.

The Best of Sharon and Gabby

Scenes from Sharon Cuneta and Gabby Concepcion movies and a feature of their wedding.

Dahling Nick

The story of Nick Joaquin, who only accepted the National Artist Award on the condition that the Marcos administration release a well-known writer who was being unjustly detained during Martial Law.

Kid Kulafu

Before he became one of the world's greatest boxers, Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao was a young boy living a hand-to-mouth existence, trying to survive from one day to the next. When he discovers his natural talent for boxing, he embarks on a brutal and intense journey that takes him from the mountains of the Philippines to the streets of Manila, and must risk everything to become a champion - for himself, his family, and his country.

Salamat sa Alaala

The documentary serves as a tribute to National Artist for Cinema Gerardo de Leon in celebration of his Centennial Year. “Salamat sa Alaala.” is inspired by the music composed by the late film director when he was a teenager playing background music for silent movies in Manila theatres. The video opens up with a capsulated history of the birth of the Filipino movies followed by a series of shots of veteran actresses, the academe and the young generation of filmmakers affirming his unique qualities as a world-class film figure. Then we unravel his private life as a family man. The documentary is one way of thanking him for his lasting legacy in the art form he left behind.

Of Cats, Dogs, Farm Animals, and Sashimi

A slice-of-life documentary of the rubber plantation boys in Zamboanga Sibugay. It’s about boyhood journeys and life’s realities told in a free-spirited, yet melancholic manner.

Travelers

The diaspora of Filipinos around the globe is driven mostly by the economics of supply and demand. The yearning for something better, stability, and self-validation leads a handful of sojourners from the provinces of the Philippines into the arms of one of its former colonial masters — the USA. But what happens when they finally get what they want? And how? Filmmaker Dennis Empalmado explores the musings of Filipino expatriates and hopeful immigrants in "Naglalakbay" (Travelers).