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
Dra. Baby Holmes is a veterenarian who left her long time boyfriend after she discovered he has been deceiving her. Realizing that her biological clock is ticking fast, she desperately searches for the perfect guy who will mary her. Roberto “BOY” Reye is a single fireman with a son born out of wedluck. Generous to a fault, Boy is considered a small town hero. Every time someone needs help, the entire neighbourhood runs to him. By chance, Baby saves Boy’s life and to show his gratitude, he offers her anything in return, She then asks Boy to give her a child. Boy thinks she’s just joking but Baby is dead serious. However, Boy discovered that he is beginning to love Baby and her many quirks. Unable to bear the guilt, Baby suddenly leaves him.
A chronicle of the production problems — including bad weather, actors' health, war near the filming locations, and more — which plagued the filming of Apocalypse Now, increasing costs and nearly destroying the life and career of Francis Ford Coppola.
The Clemente family is off to an outing but teenage son, Nicos, seems out of it. Nicos is besotted with his ladylove, Mattina, whom he can’t quite figure out. The inside info that Nicos gets from Mattina’s younger sister, Bettina, doesn’t seem to be helping. Seeing his son’s despair, Nicos’ father finally shares to his son an ancient family heirloom. It is a 100-year old manual containing the secrets, alphabetically arranged, of how men in their clan courted women. Through this, Nicos finally learns what every man should know by heart the ABC’s of what women truly want.
A story about Estelito who went to the province to hunt game, after the hunt he went swimming but upon his return, all his belonging were gone. He then went searching and meets Pilar the person who kept his belongings, after their meeting Estelito goes back to the metro. One day Pilar's grandfather returns from America and opts for Pilar and her family to stay and live with him in the metro.
YAYA is a story about a filmmaker who explores the complex relationship between his family and the domestic worker who spent decades away from her family in the Philippines to raise his. This documentary is a tribute to all the domestic workers in Hong Kong, who has served as the backbone of Hong Kong's economy by unleashing a substantial female workforce into the economy and taken care of so many lives with love and care. You are all heroes in the hearts of the Hong Kong people. - Justin Cheung, the director
Three girls divided by personalities, cultural backgrounds and principles have one thing in common, their love for music.
A hip hop dance film featuring Filipino world class dance champions and inspired by the music of Francis Magalona.
Hendrix dreams of hip-hop greatness, but he’s spiraling down a rabbit-hole of crime and poverty until he meets Doc, an old poet still haunted by his martial law past. Can they turn each other’s lives around before they’re swallowed by their circumstance?
Produced by the Army Pictorial Service, Signal Corps, with the cooperation of the Army Air Forces and the United States Navy, and released by Warner Bros. for the War Activities Committee shortly after the surrender of Japan. Follow General Douglas MacArthur and his men from their exile from the Philippines in early 1942, through the signing of the instrument of surrender on the USS Missouri on September 1, 1945. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.
The story deals with the gaieties and frolics of Gypsies led by Ricardo, shown here dancing with Ramona.
Gigi from Arakan Valley is a woman rebel who teaches young comrades the facets of their struggle as they remain to be in waiting after they were ambushed. In a nearby village, Junjun and his fellow soldiers take a rest. He attempts to chance upon a girl he longs for, but instead encounters a balyan/tagbawian (shaman) in a very disturbing situation. Somewhere, two kids, Abyan and Busaw, trek the forest back to their mother. Huling Balyan ng Buhi : O Ang Sinalirap nga Asoy Nila weaves the tales of rebels in waiting, playful soldiers at rest and a troubled balyan (village healer) in a very ambiguous predicament. A quandary that will usher them all to one encounter that can bring to light the questions of transcendence.
"Emir" is all about Amelia (Frenscheska Farr). Amelia hails from Ilocos and she is forced to find work abroad to provide for her family. Amelia leaves her family and everything she loves behind. Amelia applies as a nanny and is lucky enough to be the caretaker of the Sheik's pregnant wife. Later on, Amelia is given appointed nanny of the Sheik's first born son Ahmed. Through the years, Amelia will not only see Ahmed grow to a boy but she will also learn more about life's trials and tribulations, struggles of lonely worker in a foreign country.
When Jennifer Laude, a Filipina trans woman, is brutally murdered by a U.S. Marine, three women intimately invested in the case--an activist attorney, a transgender journalist and Jennifer's mother)--galvanize a political uprising, pursuing justice and taking on hardened histories of US imperialism.
JEEPNEY visualizes the richly diverse cultural and social climate of the Philippines through its most popular form of mass transportation: vividly decorated ex-WWII military jeeps. The film follows jeepney artists, drivers, and passengers, whose stories take place amidst nationwide protest against oil price hikes that pressure drivers to work overseas to earn a living, far from their homes for years at a time. Lavishly shot and cut to the rhythm of the streets, JEEPNEY provides an enticing vehicle through which the rippling effects of globalization can be felt.
A musical docudrama about the brave and outstanding Women of Malolos to whom Jose Rizal addressed his famous letter in Feb 22, 1898.
A commuter waits for a ride under the sweltering Manila heat. As his impatience grows, he sets off on his walk home, putting on a pair of earphones as he begins listening to some music...
Before 2NE1 achieved global success, Sandara was already a superstar in the Philippines.
In the final decades of the 20th century, the Philippines was a country where low-budget exploitation-film producers were free to make nearly any kind of movie they wanted, any way they pleased. It was a country with extremely lax labor regulations and a very permissive attitude towards cultural expression. As a result, it became a hotbed for the production of cheapie movies. Their history and the genre itself are detailed in this breezy, nostalgic documentary.
Zsa Zsa is a beautician who has no knowledge of his past. Little does he imagine that he comes from a line of great Ninjas. He is supposed to be the heir to the secret of his clan along with his diminutive sister. - Written by ledster