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Rafael Manuel

Directing

Rafael Manuel

Rafael Manuel is a Filipino filmmaker currently based between Amsterdam, London, and Manila. His short film 'Filipiñana' won the Silver Bear Jury Prize at the 70th Berlinale International Film Festival and was nominated for the Best British Short Film at the British Independent Film Awards 2020. Its feature-length adaptation won the Special Jury Award for Creative Vision at the 2026 Sundance Film …

Known For

Filipiñana
NEW
Filipiñana · 2026
Filipiñana
★ 6.02026
MovieDramaMystery
Amid stifling heat, Isabel, a 17-year-old Ilocana, works at a posh country club outside Manila. New to the job, she wanders its immaculate grounds, sampling its luxuries. But beneath the pristine fairways, something is rotting. When Isabel tries to return a mislaid golf club to the club’s president, Dr. Palanca, she discovers the violent truths of her workplace, her country, and her own past.
FilipiñanaFilipiñana · 2020
Filipiñana
★ 4.52020
MovieDramaMystery
A film about a girl drawn to a golf course.
102 Narra102 Narra · 2024
102 Narra
2024
MovieDocumentary
Daily life unfolds in a gated community of Manila amidst birdsong, effigies of the Holy Family, lush greenery and the intricacies of class. Rafael Manuel's (co-director alongside Tatjana Fanny) intimate gaze on his own childhood home oscillates between personal and political, offering a tender yet piercing view into social and familial structures in the Philippines.
A Bird Called MemoryA Bird Called Memory · 2023
A Bird Called Memory
2023
Movie
A bird called Memory has forgotten how to come back home. Lua, a trans woman, searches for Memory in the streets of Rio de Janeiro, but the city can be a hostile place.
looking she said I forgetlooking she said I forget · 2024
looking she said I forget
2024
MovieDrama
Having just moved to Amsterdam, Lou prepares her new apartment that she will share with her partner, Joel. For now though, Joel is on a trip with an intimate other. Confronted with the complexities of her non-monogamous relationship, Lou shifts her gaze to the rhythms of her new city.
after a roomafter a room · 2021
after a room
★ 1.02021
Movie
Nights can be long inside Naomi and Ram’s room. Tonight, they have invited Marina over and their messy space is under scrutiny. Exploring intimacy as a personal playground and the skin as an intimate map, Naomi’s docile body unravels in the tension inside a room she keeps grasping and losing. The small child within her is itching to giggle through the night, before the break of day.
DogeaterDogeater
Dogeater
Movie
Maria is a Filipino maid in London who dreams of gaining British citizenship.

Filmography

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