Ron Ruzzel Valencia

An elevator operator assists souls to their rightful destination in the afterlife. Through the stories of her passengers, Jackie seeks to find peace in knowing what comes next after her life ends.

“Matumba, Taya”(Fall, You’re It.) – draws from the Filipino games Tumbang Preso and Baraha, where matumba marks a fall and pagtaya means to take a risk. As two childhood friends, Lara and Lino, grow up, their innocent play turns into a reckoning with real-world injustices—forcing them to choose whether to change the system or be changed by it.

An elevator operator assists souls to their rightful destination in the afterlife. Through the stories of her passengers, Jackie seeks to find peace in knowing what comes next after her life ends.

“Matumba, Taya”(Fall, You’re It.) – draws from the Filipino games Tumbang Preso and Baraha, where matumba marks a fall and pagtaya means to take a risk. As two childhood friends, Lara and Lino, grow up, their innocent play turns into a reckoning with real-world injustices—forcing them to choose whether to change the system or be changed by it.