Cinemartyrs

Church Dogs

In a small town, a painter's art comes to life as he paints idyllic dogs that loll inside the old church merged with an old woman's folk piety. His young daughter witnesses all this as she walks in faith.

Himala Ngayon

A 2012 documentary about the making and the legacy of the 1982 drama masterpiece directed by Ishmael Bernal that ended up being one of the greatest Asian films of all time. The revelations about the theory of "Who killed Elsa?" will be answered and also, the impact of the film to the Filipino culture and society.

Rigodon

Rigodon follows the spiritual journey's of three Filipino immigrants in New York City whose lives intertwine in the age of racial profiling and government crackdowns.

The White Funeral

A bride walks on the desert. She takes off her bridal ornaments and turns into a harlot. A multitude of people crawl on their bellies, become sick and soon die. A volcano erupts. White ashes of lahar cover the earth. The bride remembers her betrothal and repents--symbolically paving the way for the resurrection of her people. A final bridal march into a new heaven and earth takes place.

Memories of a Forgotten War

The Filipino-American War is quite possibly the past century’s least known armed conflict, especially troubling as its horrors foreshadowed so many of the horrors to come. Everything that we later saw in the Korean, Vietnam and, most recently, the Gulf Wars - from water boarding to search-and-destroy tactics - already happened during the USA’s first major 'civilizing mission' abroad, as it was sold to the public at the time. In the decade following the Spanish-American War, more Filipinos were killed by US troops than by the Spanish during the 300 years of colonial rule. More than 1 million Filipinos died between 1899 and 1913. This experimental documentary about the Philippine-American War of 1899 combines archival photographs and turn of the century film, digital video and 16mm footage to create memories of a forgotten history. A contemporary Filipina-American narrator weaves this complex history through historiography, experimental documentary and intercultural cinema.

Ka Oryang

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

Alimuom

In the future, farming on Earth is outlawed due to the toxic environment and all agriculture is done off-world. But despite the ban, some scientists and farmers resist.

Viva Villa!

A documentary on National Artist for Literature Jose Garcia Villa, whose first love was painting and whose sensuous prose got him into trouble as a college student. He would later move to New York City to become a celebrated writer pushing the boundaries of poetry.

Concrete Conflicts

A short experimental documentary on the loss of urban spaces and the fight to reclaim them as pedestrians, commuters, and PUV drivers face a transport crisis in the Philippines.

My Body, My Rules, & Them

The film is an exploration of the queer body’s struggle to attain validation and evade exploitation. In a society where queer identities have always struggled to be recognized, our bodies have often been a medium of our expression and avenue for satisfaction. However, we, as a community, have subjected ourselves as victims to a system that exploits our vulnerabilities and bodies, to the point of moral decay.

Bulosan in the Heart of America

A short documentary that merges interviews, re-enactments, and animation, to examine the tumultuous chapter of Philippine migrant history beginning with the ‘Manong Generation’ – the first migrant labor in the dawn of the 20th century – and labor activism through the life and writings of Carlos Bulosan, the man who wrote the novel America is in the Heart.

Ishma

A documentary on the life and works of Ishmael Bernal

From Asia with Love

A critical look at the proliferation of the mail-order bride industry in Asia and its representations of Asian women in the West.

Dahling Nick

The story of Nick Joaquin, who only accepted the National Artist Award on the condition that the Marcos administration release a well-known writer who was being unjustly detained during Martial Law.

The Guerilla is a Poet

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.

History of the Underground

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