Angeli Bayani

Japan, 1944. Trained for intelligence work, Hiroo Onoda, 22 years old, discovers a philosophy contrary to the official line: no suicide; stay alive whatever happens; the mission is more important than anything else. Sent to Lubang, a small island in the Philippines where the Americans are about to land, this role will be to wage a guerrilla war until the return of the Japanese troops. The Empire will surrender soon after; Onoda, 10,000 days later.

While working at an elite country club outside Manila, a 17-year-old Ilocana worker uncovers the violent truths of her workplace, her country, and her own past after attempting to return a lost golf club to the club's president.

A historical drama focusing on Manuel L. Quezon years after the Philippine Revolution during the American occupation. When his fight for independence from the United States is put to the test, Quezon finds himself playing the brutal game of politics to outmaneuver his rivals — including Leonard Wood, Sergio Osmeña, and Joven Hernando. In Quezon’s relentless quest for power, he ultimately faces off with Emilio Aguinaldo in the 1935 presidential elections, using charm and favoritism as both weapons and currency, in a campaign that ultimately changes the face of Philippine politics and history.

Just days before her team's tryouts for the Olympics, dedicated young gymnast Sunshine discovers she is pregnant. Now she must embark on a desperate and risky journey to fight for her dream.

A young Filipina searches for the missing links between her strange bleeding condition and her faraway mother's healing powers.

Stranded in the Philippines during World War II, a young girl finds that her duty to protect her dying mother is complicated by her misplaced trust in a beguiling, flesh-eating fairy.

The Sevilla siblings reunite at their ancestral home a year after the passing of their matriarch. What begins as an obligatory gathering quickly spirals into a storm of revelations, grudges, and laughter, exposing the fragile ties that bind them.

Lorna, a mother of two, just lost her husband, a fisherman one morning in a tragic sea accident. She was left with no choice but to raise her own family. In a town where women are regarded as inferior, she defies the odds by being the first woman “mangingisda” in order to feed her kids. Will she be able to rule out the ways of the sea? How long till’ the community accepts her defiance?"

Merlie is a playful girl whose imagination makes her drawings come alive. As her home, their community, faces the threat of demolition, she makes her bravest decisions in her final bid to mark their space in a cruel city.

Since the pandemic hit in the spring of 2020, Metro Manila has been subjected to intermittent lockdowns with demeaning punishments. Despite the danger, Sandra, a single middle-aged reporter living there, continues to search for stories, even after waking up with symptoms one day. As a public service, she turns the camera on herself for the first time in her career, documenting her condition and recording the sights and sounds of the afflicted city on her way to the hospital. Unfortunately, every place she reaches has a long queue. With her remaining strength, she brings herself to Quiapo Church, the site frequented by many pilgrims in dire situations.

An embittered law student commits a brutal double murder; a family man takes the fall and is forced to take a harsh sentence; and a mother and her two children wander the countryside in search of some kind of redemption.

A poet hearkens back to his Philippine village after years abroad in Europe. Horrified to discover that the community has been buried under landslides, he wanders the countryside, reconnecting with friends, lovers, and family whose lives teeter on the brink of destruction.

During the late 1990s, a busy working-class Singaporean couple hires a Filipino woman as a maid and nanny to their young son.

Fely is an elderly woman who finds second chance at youth after a visit to a mysterious photo studio.

Single mother Nora lives with her daughter Sarah on a cardboard groundsheet and hammock tied to the undercarriage of a semitrailer in the parking lot of a Manila cargo terminal. Deep in debt and receiving little help from her husband, Nora has nothing to live for except for Sarah. Living in a community suffering from abject poverty, Nora sifts through trash and spends time with Vilma, a happily single shopkeeper, and Minda, whose truck-driver husband disappeared a month ago presumably to live with another woman. With no other viable options to support her daughter, Nora turns to prostitution.

The silent witness to the life and love of Juanita. It is her sanctuary, the place where she creates dishes for her family, her friends, even enemies and strangers. Through cooking, she gets to know the people around her, and in return, reveal herself to 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.

This is a sober and impartial study of homosexuality through the story of a middle-aged gay couturier and his attempts at keeping his dignity amidst the dilemmas and problems brought upon by his homosexuality.

A high school movie featuring a mix of real students and professional actors that deals with the experience of finding one's identity.

An ex-seminarian slash communist runs a hotel in Baguio. He then meets a handsome upcoming lawyer. A once-a-year trip to Baguio by the lawyer and conversations with the hotel owner develop into an affair which encompasses decades of socio-political changes in the country.

In this coming-of-age-film about self-love, Maya is a girl who has always held a pessimistic view of the rain, reminding her of failed love and other depressing things. Will the rain ever stop her in her journey to overcome past heartaches?

Toto, a teenage orphan, is recruited by a notorious death squad. Irma, the groups leader, soon becomes a maternal figure to the young boy. As the two form a familial bond, their loyalties will be put to the test when one of their targets turns out to be a familiar face.

Despite their differences, an aspiring architect falls for her deaf neighbor, who teaches her basic sign language.

Julian is a soldier stationed on a remote island in the Philippines. He has finished his three months of service on the island and is ready to leave, but news of a coup d’état in Manilla forces Julian to stay on the island longer. All Julian has is a walkie-talkie, radio and TV. Meanwhile, Julian senses someone watching him. When Julian loses contact with the main base, soldiers Lucio and Eric are sent to the island. The soldiers then talk about a soldier previously stationed on the island and his encounters with a mermaid.

An examination of the tumultuous times of Filipino activists and revolutionaries from the end of World War II through Martial Law.

A college heartthrob meets a college newbie - a challenge, a tension, a discovery, and a love that will change everything between them.

A young woman witnesses the beginnings of a revolution during Martial Law.

On Christmas Day, 15 year old David finds out that his boyfriend, Jonathan has taken another lover. The discovery leads him on the brink of depression making him think of ways to have him back at all cost. He has invited Jonathan to see him on this day for the last time.

An artist struggles to finish his work while a storyline about a cult plays in his head. As the cult spirals towards a fundamentalism that will destroy the world, the artist decides to destroy his muse to redeem the world.

Orphan Carding befriends Army Captain Samuel Corazon, who’s stationed in his town to root out the remaining Huk guerrillas. At the dance hall, Corazon woos dancer Lauriana, and they soon move in together. The two become sort of surrogate parents for the orphan Carding, with Corazon teaching him the ways of men. But the soldier has a dark side, and Carding becomes witness to the violence occurring in their home, and a heinous act committed by the soldier on his common-law wife.

A teacher recalls how his teacher during his elementary years greatly influenced and shaped his life. An official entry for Pista Ng Pelikulang Pilipino 2019 by Gawad Urian Winners Angeli Bayani (Best Actress, 2014), Noel Escondo (Best Short, 2016), KL Carpio (Best Short, 2017)

The film has been ten years in the making, and over time it has grown to become what the director himself has called an artistic testament. It is simultaneously his most personal and most provocative film. A film about growing older, about losing, about the special moments one remembers, and about the director's own circling around the essence of eroticism.

Filipino director Adolfo Alix Jr. returns to the Festival with this timely story of a couple caught up in Rodrigo Duterte’s violent war on drugs when their son goes missing.

Raped and pregnant, an OFW rids herself of unwanted baggage on the flight back home.

Lilet Never Happened is the rollercoaster story of how a young girl, struggling to survive in the streets of Manila, spirals down into child prostitution. She is a fighter. She is a dreamer. She is a rebel and she thinks she can handle the world with her wits. But she has to face up to reality when she runs out of innocent dreams.

As a typhoon bears down on a sleepy rural town in the Philippines, strange events and even stranger behaviour foreshadow the watery catastrophe to come.

During a trip to the Philippines, middle-aged Norwegian Lars has met the Filipina he wants to share his life with, but to his surprise she turns him down. Lars now has to face his own prejudices and deal with this uncomfortable situation.

In a pivotal stage of their youth, four exuberant college sophomores face personal challenges that will affect the rest of their lives.

Deep in the slums of Manila, a young boxer's life is changed forever when his father pressures him to cheat in a fight.

A deaf child who dreams of attending school faces a series of rejections from his mother because of an unprecedented past.

This is the story of Visayans coming to the MetroManila area in search of greener pastures. Dodong Valderama, a jack-of-trades orphan, and Santo Nino devotee, sis among them, trying his luck in a different place. He meets Inday and her Lola Angeling, also Visayan immigrants, who are fish vendors. Angeling dreams for her daughter to become a popular singer , and hopefully one day, this will get them out of the slums. Angeling is pursued by town widower Max. Dodong, whose idol is the late Flash Elorde, eventually finds a full time job as janitor in a boxing gym. Inday fails to win the town singing contest, much to the disappointment of Lola Angeling.With the help of friend Lao, Dodong pursues Inday until they become sweethearts, then husband and wife.

After learning that a group of doctors were killed by super natural forces, father’s Salvador and Benedicto will have their faith tested when they are tasked to perform an exorcism on a possessed woman named Clarita. Meanwhile, a photojournalist investigates the truth about Clarita’s possession and helps the two priests perform the exorcism. In their journey to help Clarita, they will encounter demonic obstacles that will prevent them from performing the exorcism.

Natoy, like any other child, finds joy and excitement in the simplest of things, especially in eating halo-halo filled with pink gelatin and red sago. Things change suddenly when, as he is watching television, a news report about the ongoing war in Mindanao shows footage of a badly wounded soldier waiting to be rescued. That soldier, almost bleeding to death, is his father, Corporal Lino Bolante. This starts his journey as he and his mother Sonia wait for help that comes too late. This story does not only show how the war in Mindanao robs a child of his innocence, but also shows the shadows of war that Filipino homes confront everyday.

Sarah is a nurse at a Public Maternity Hospital. The hospital is abuzz with pregnant mothers of all shapes and sizes in different stages of labor. The hospital is short on staff on Christmas Day so Sarah is forced to put in a double shift. Sarah observes the women coming and going in her ward, noting who is a first-timer and who is a veteran. Meanwhile, the wards are overcrowded : two women and their babies sharing single beds while those in labor are spilling unto the hallways. Sarah takes these all in stride, her heart and mind laboring over her own personal pains.

Set against the drug wars in the Philippines, Maria's husband is murdered in mysterious circumstances and is left to fend for her three children in a police state. As she delves into Manila’s dark underworld of cops, criminals, and drugs to find answers, she realizes the truth is never black and white, and that she must explore her own darkness to keep her family safe.

Three people start a strange therapy to escape their agonies. Each attempts to process those they lost during the Marcos dictatorship while examining their own grief.

A priest visits a small seaside town. Miling a former nun who now teaches catechism on the island thinks that father Emman is the priest she sent for. She believes that a priest would help revive the townspeople's faith in God by putting up bars and girly joints.

Ang Asawa Kong Si Nikulet is a 2009 independent short film directed by Theodore Boborol and starring child actor Jairus Aquino.

A Hyperlink Movie about the choices and actions of a diverse group of people and about the question if it is possible to change your destiny.

A man gets a new look at life after losing his job and becoming a taxi driver.

Ang Huling Araw ng Linggo spans a week in a life of seven individuals with interconnected narratives.

The Game of Juan’s Life explores two hours in the life of Juan Reyes, a live-sex performer at an underground gay bar, who has decided to leave Manila and go back to his home province. On the day of his departure, he will take us with him as he makes life decisions, big and small. The most important one of all is leaving the impoverished place he called home for the past year, capping it with emotional goodbyes to his lover, Noel. Then, he will lead us to the underground bar for his last performance, and an event that will cause him to question his resolve.

Four men, four stories, all intersect in Manila. Episode one is about Ariel, a con-man. Episode two is about Boy, an expectant father. In the third episode, Ronald goes to Manila to sell a building. And in the fourth story Baste saves his sister from Ariel.

Florencia, the matriarch of the Filipinas family, is in poor health, and Yolanda, the eldest of the Filipinas children, finds herself in the unenviable position of keeping her bickering family from disintegration. As the tension rises, Yolanda seeks refuge in a local church. She is critically injured trying to break up a nasty fight between brothers Emman and Samuel, forcing her family to make a life-changing decision.

Tackles the dynamics of the relationship of a husband with his wife and his lover -- and they all live together in one house.

For Ian, a room is a space for freedom and expression of his individuality. In his room, he is free to do as he pleases. In his room, there are no rules that suppress what he feels and thinks. Like a room, life is full of mystery.

"The social worker Aurora is kidnapped by a group of Moslem rebels who have lost their ideals and only plunder. In a military attack on the camp where Aurora is being held, she manages to escape. But in the jungle, she doesn't have a hope and two attackers find her the same night. Her name means 'first light of day', but it's not at all certain that Aurora will make it that far." - IFFR

Adela, a former radio personality, celebrates her 80th birthday. Alone, and without support, she longs for the family and stability of years gone by. Mundane events take on heightened meaning as Adela gauges her life against those of the sea of humanity. Adela is about the quiet moments in life that can fill us with either joy or sorrow.

No synopsis available yet.

In Frankfurt, Lailani, now 65, awaits a plane to Manila. She's returning home to the Philippines for the first time in 30 years. En route, she delays her return by stopping over in Singapore. Her interactions with her fellow Filipinos help her reflect on the nature of her loss, the cycle of sacrifice and longing that marks them all. Gripped by the fear of returning home to a life she has left behind but is still intricately connected to, she finds moments of enchantment among other lost souls. They've created their ways of living with disenchantment through a Dreamtime that shelters them from the storms of trauma.