Memories of Old Manila

This is the life story of Mother Ignacia del Espiritu Santo, a Chinese-Filipina nun who founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Religious of the Virgin Mary.

Based on a painting by Rembrandt, “The Sacrifice of Isaac,” the film is a meditation on the complex relations between fathers and sons. In two parallel stories, a son’s desire to be free is shown as he struggles from his father’s oppressive domination. This is shown on the one hand by a boy who watches over his father in his sickbed wishing to free himself from his father’s domineering presence; and on the other, a biblical Isaac who frees himself from Abraham’s intent to kill his own son.

A documentary film, which focuses on the subject of women’s movement in the Philippines. Myth and legend overlap with history and politics as the women’s struggle is laid to bear in the individual stories and achievements of those featured in the film. The fragmented mosaic of voices and scenes allow for a plurality of views and opinions to account for the multifaceted and complex nature of Filipinas. From poetry to dance, politics to poetry – women chart their own lives in the auspicious event of change happening with the ascent of a woman to the country’s pinnacle of power.

The bizarre history of Filipino B-films, as told through filmmaker Andrew Leavold's personal quest to find the truth behind its midget James Bond superstar Weng Weng.

An erstwhile boatman wants to do a little more than paddle his own canoe in the town famed for its waterfalls. He leaves the village of his roots for the city and lands a job as a live sex performer called toro. Quick successes in his newfound profession delude him into regarding that the measure of a man is in his trousers. He has a partner on stage and off. Despite her cynicism and tough veneer, she sees in him a way out of the slums and the red light district.

A documentary about a gay nightclub performer with an especially lurid "Spider-man" act. Oliver is a female impersonator who supports his family by performing in Manila's gay bars.

Narrated by Deocampo in English, the film documents the anti-Marcos revolution, the life of Oliver (a transvestite who was the subject of the first film in the trilogy), child prostitution, and the filmmaker's own personal history, including his homosexuality, his filmmaking, and his travels abroad.

A candid story about a Filipino transvestite who works in Japan’s entertainment center in order to support his family. In the daytime, Joan attends to his daily training to prepare him for work as entertainer in Japan. At night, he works as one of the female impersonators in Manila’s gay bars. All these to feed a family of eighteen. Although it will be Joan’s fourth trip to Japan, he still finds it hard to make as much money to make their lives better. Meeting other gay entertainers in the bar where he works, they talk about the difficulties Filipino entertainers experience while working in Japan. The situation is no different though from the life lived by someone like Joan in the Philippines who was once caught in a drug bust operation and sent to jail. Threats and difficulties seem to hound these sex warriors wherever they go.

When an exhibit opening is suddenly called off, a young art copyist and a studio owner spend the afternoon wandering the gallery grounds, striking up an awkward, candid conversation that subtlely shifts how both see their lives.

Interweaving lives of LGBT personalities compose this documentary about the struggles and hopes of a queer community living in the country’s premiere city.

In Cesar Hernando's noirish short, the uprising and UFOs are merged in a strange commentary on government control.

Film: American Beginnings of Philippine Cinema is the second episode in Deocampo's evolving saga of the country's history of Philippine cinema. Based on his recent book, Film: American Influences on Philippine Cinema, this 3D-animated documentary ventures from Escolta through Avenida as we discover how film came to be in the Philippines.

Shot during Deocampo’s year as a scholar in France under Atelier du Formacion Au Cinema Direct. His first documentary provides a glimpse of three Filipino painters residing in Europe: Nena Saguil, Macario Vitalis, and Ofelia Gelvezon-Tequi. The featured artists commentate on their daily practices as artists and migrants, all uniting at the end for an intimate gathering.

A family witnesses the transformation of their garbage into a monster.

With interviews with National Artists Lamberto Avellana and Lino Brocka and myriad talents from the Mowelfund community such as Nick Deocampo and Raymond Red, Beyond Mainstream documents the robust energy of nascent independent filmmaking in the country in the 80s. Based on Nick Deocampo's first book Short Film: The Emergence of a New Philippine Cinema (1985), it features the first Independent Film and Video Festival held in the Wave Cinema in Cubao, Quezon City, the first video theater in the country.