Bituin Escalante

Amid drought and famine in Cupang, young Elsa claims to have seen the Virgin Mary and subsequently been blessed with the ability to heal the sick. As people flock to witness her powers, the village becomes consumed by faith, prosperity, greed, and deceit. Is Elsa truly a symbol of hope in a world desperate for salvation?

A collection of interwoven stories about life and violence in the Philippines, following a college professor, a university chancellor, a social worker, a police chief, two students, two mothers, and a lawyer.

In a provincial Philippine town, the naïve daughter of the mayor comes home with a video of a powerful family friend abusing his dog.

PINGKIAN: ISANG MUSIKAL is a full-length stage musical about the life of Emilio Jacinto during the tail end of the Philippine revolution up to the start of the Philippine-American war. Witness the trials and triumphs of a nation on the edge of revolution as Jacinto navigates the complexities of war with an unwavering commitment to the cause of freedom. Jacinto sustains serious wounds in an encounter with the Cazadores at Majayjay, Laguna. As he fights for his life, he is visited by the ghosts of Andres Bonifacio, his closest friend and the revered Supremo of the Katipunan, and Dr. Jose Rizal, his role model for citizenship and civic values. Together, they delve into Jacinto's haunting nightmares and aspirations for a heroic death— an introspective exploration that serves as a poignant examination of the Katipunan's conscience and his definition of Freedom.

In late 1970s Philippines, a military-controlled militia oppresses a remote village, spreading terror both physical and psychological. Fearless young doctor Lorena opens a clinic for the poor but disappears without a trace. Her activist poet husband sets out to find her.

With the imminent death of his autocratic grandfather, coinciding with the burgeoning oppressive regime of Ferdinand Marcos, Servando Monzon III, inheritor of the hacienda and businesses of his powerful clan, agonises on becoming the new feudal lord and capitulating with Marcos’ designs to control the Philippines. Aware of his clan’s long history of violence, Monzon knows the very violent history of his county and foresees a very violent future with the dictatorship.

Boobita Rose is a woman dealing with her dysfunctional family and a socially challenged love life.

Set in Philippine post-American colonialist era, where the American influence was still apparent, Ilusyon tells the story of Miguel, a young man from the countryside, who decides to visit his father, Pablo, a Modernist painter in Manila. Upon his arrival, he discovers that his father has decided to leave for the province but he opted to stay in Manila for a vacation. One day, he meets Stella, a nude model originally scheduled to pose for Miguel's father. Struck by her beauty, Miguel does the unthinkable - he pretends to be his father the painter. Developing a relationship based on a lie, things turn for the worse as Stella begets a strange skin disease that turns off Miguel. Surrounded by strange characters - a talking cow, a talkative mailman and a nosy landlady - Miguel is driven into a frenzy realization about beauty, lust, love and being true to oneself. An ambiguous ending underlines the surreal tone of the film.

A story about a ten-year-old boy whose dream is to become a movie star. Pepot, the dreamer, is surrounded by people who are equally dazzled by the movie world from his own mother to the principal in his school to the impersonators in the neighborhood carnival. Coming from a poor family, Pepot overcomes adversity to have a chance at fulfilling his dream. He tackles school bullies, a strict teacher, and an unwelcoming world that fail to comprehend his intense desire to become a star. The story happens in the '70s when superstars brightened the film world in Pepot's country.

In this whimsical historical fresco, a counterpoint to today’s urgent political issues, the figure of the Filipino revolutionary Rizal is revisited in the light of early silent films.