Manang Biring

At first, there was Tagalog, Gym Lumbera’s short and, to his mind, unfinished narrative about the infidelity that comes between a husband and wife in their twilight years, shot on film and reflecting his own real-life infidelity.. And then there was a storm, a real storm and not a metaphorical one, that flooded his house and submerged, and subsequently damaged, the only copy of Tagalog. This damaged version, entitled English, became the missing piece that completed the film. The new work is named after Taglish, the bastard hybrid, some say corruption, of Tagalog and English, and has become a meditation on love and language and the ways in which we betray and destroy them.

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 his birth as a poet.

Carlito is getting married. But he doesn't dare tell his parents. He also takes advantage of the safety of the bartering rural community from which he commutes back and forth to work.

The children living in a Philippines ghetto grow up too fast, dealing with the cruel world where they have to be responsible for their own lives. But they have bright, innocent and good dreams in their hearts. The reality on the streets of capitalism is, however, too harsh to hold on to these dreams.

A story of an over-the-hill prostitute whose life savings are stolen during the Holy Week.

A young boy frequently visits an old man who lives alone, keeping him always in good company. One night, he chances upon the old man watching a dated clip of himself as a cross-dressing boy. This sparks within the young boy an interest to find out more about the old man's past. What he ultimately discovers aids both him and the old man towards a richer understanding of how the weight of life and identity should be carried.

Mara is scared of water. She has a rare condition that keeps her from touching any forms of liquid. As a single mother, her only pearl is her frisky son Elim, who was later on diagnosed with a life threathening disease. The boy’s only request is to learn how to swim.

Kaye arrives at the airport in Pampanga where she waits for her estranged father to fetch her. Arriving late, her father tells her they have to wait for another arrival later that day. In those first few hours they spend together, how do they both attempt to get to know each other?

Little Mia has a lot of questions about death even if she is only 7 years old. She has always heard about it but never fully understood it. And as she experiences the loss of her own father, she struggles to see her mother’s sadness grow heavier each day. Mia seeks help instead from the shadow puppets her father left her, to cope and understand the meaning of life and death.

Alona attempts to possess her heart's desire: a man who frequents her fantasies and the toilet of the Naga City bus terminal.

Consuelo, a ghost who has haunted Escolta for many years, finds a respite from her loneliness in Joey, a young man who has just died. As the two ghosts pass the time before Joey moves to the afterlife, Consuelo questions her reasons for staying put.