Life on the Tracks

A collective work, made at the beginning of the 1990s, was the result of a workshop lead by German filmmakers, such as Michael Wulfes and Christian Weisenborn. Its authors, who now belong among the stars of the Philippine cinema, depict intimate portraits of children living in the streets of Manila.

The lives of random children from different parts of the Philippines, facing the same predicament of living life of arduous labor to cope with the harsh realities of poverty.

For over forty years, Manong Edwin has scrubbed, swept, and served in the Malacañang of the North - witnessing the rise, fall, and return of the Marcos dynasty. In the quiet repetition of his labor lies a searing reflection of the Filipino worker: loyal yet forgotten, diligent yet dispensable, ever-present yet erased.

In March 2020, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte imposed a strict lockdown in the capital, Manila, and surrounding areas. For Lito, his family, and millions of other urban slum dwellers across the city, a hard lockdown means no work. No work means no food. Hungry citizens take to the streets in protest. The president orders the police and military to shoot anyone making trouble. Curfews are imposed and arrests are made. Aid arrives but it is not enough. As the restrictions continue throughout 2020, Lito navigates a daily struggle to save his family - from hunger and the pandemic.

ino, a young balut (boiled fertilized bird egg) vendor, strides throughout the night in the streets of Cauayan City not only to sell his product but meet his friends and enjoy the night until he is being scolded the next morning for the insufficient payment of goods due to unsold eggs.

In a flood-prone De La Paz Biñan where water linger for months, Janeth along with the Replan family celebrates a flood free New Year in nearly three years.

After discovering she was adopted, daughter explores her biological father's hometown, hoping to uncover a life she was not aware of.