Esoterica: Manila

A heartwarming story about nine kids who had run away from their homes.

Yokozawa meets a man (Kirishima) and his life is turned around. Kirishima starts to blackmail and tease Yokozawa, but Kirishima might actually be trying to help him recover from an emotional period of his life in the process.

A young woman takes a job as a personal maid for a rich young man. The pair do not get along, but soon due to their classmates' games of love, their relationship grows more complicated than before.

Everyone deserves a great love story, but for 17-year-old Simon Spier, it's a little more complicated. He hasn't told his family or friends that he's gay, and he doesn't know the identity of the anonymous classmate that he's fallen for online.

Lieutenant Hermes Papauran, one of the best investigators in the Philippines, is at a deep moral crossroads. He is a first-hand witness of the murderous anti-drug campaign conducted by his force, his anxiety and guilt triggering a severe skin disease. As he tries to heal, a dark past haunts him.

Ian Montes is a picture of success. Despite being a son of a shipping tycoon, Ian refused to just ride in his father's empire. He built his own real estate company and earned his first million at a very young age. He never looked back since then. Driven by his ambition to become better, if not as good as his father, Ian managed to make it on his own. But behind all the glory is a man yearning for love and recognition.

An Army colonel leads a guerrilla campaign against the Japanese in the Philippines.

Concerto is about how, in the last part of World War II, a special piano concert is held in the forest outside Davao City, in Mindanao. In these boondocks, a displaced Filipino family, lead by Military Commander Ricardo and his wife Julia, become acquainted with a group of Japanese officers, similarly camped nearby. Their son Joselito, a Japanese speaker, becomes the conduit with the neighboring Japanese. Their daughters Niña, an aspiring concert pianist and the musically gifted, Maria, who is able to play by ear, are alternately repulsed and intrigued by the officers. Family values are questioned as the family treads the thin line between enmity and friendship with the occupying Japanese. Based on true stories from the director's own family history, Concerto celebrates a family whose reverence for life, expressed through their love of music and friendship, can survive even war, and shows how beauty and compassion does grow in even the harshest of conditions. - Written by anonymous

A poignant story of a family’s struggles in life. It tells of Rosa, who lives in the slums near the railroad tracks, with her mother and five brothers. Her mother wallows in guilt and depression when her drunkard father is run over by a train. Though she is set to marry her fiancé, Rosa chooses to put her family’s needs before her own. Rosa’s brothers also carry their own burdens, except for one, the youngest, Avelino, who helps his sister shoulder the weight of the family’s problems.

In 1970s Mindanao, a man and his family take arms to defend the people against those who would oppress them.

One evening, Martin, a broadcasting student, is invited for coffee by Lawrence, the TV reporter he idolizes. During the days that follow, Martin shares with his friends separately three versions of what transpired during his meeting with Lawrence: what happened, what really happened, and what might have actually happened. Through conversations with friends, Martin comes to terms with the idea that his idol – a dignified newsman who is supposed to be a paragon of virtue – is not who he appears to be on television.

Tales of young, romantic love intertwine and reflect both the idealism and the naivete of youth.

A girl named Mika decides to go on a road trip to look for aliens. During her trip, she accidentally bumps into Caloy whom she gives a free ride to until he reaches his destination. Mika then finds out that Caloy has cancer but despite it, he has learned to accept his fate. Both embark on a journey filled with adventures and misadventures not knowing they would fall in love with each other along the way.

When the 26-year-old Civics teacher, Kevin, openly voices his stance on marriage equality at school, he stirs up a storm. His being madly in love with an HIV positive man doesn't sit well with all the people around him. When a rumour breaks out about his HIV status, he is forced to make choices no one should have to.

Jologs portrays the intersecting stories of various working-class people who are all tied to one coffee shop and are struggling to make ends meet in the Philippines.

Follows the flirtation between Manuel and Lourdes, two Negrosanon whose lives revolve around food. Along the way, we are treated to the full panorama of Negrosanon cuisine and the idiosyncrasies of Negrosanon eating.

A young man, alone in his room, is visited by a mysterious voice, who forces him to reveal the murder he committed.

An Zi Yan and Mai Ding's love is tested when their family and friends complicate their relationship.

The movie, set in a remote volcanic island, tells of the friendship between a little boy named Bentoy and a giant bird named Goliat

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.