The Family That Doesn't Weep

Three friends wait along Dalton Pass every dawn to jump at the back of rice delivery trucks to steal the goods and sell it at the wet market as their means of income. One of them accidentally gets a pack of drugs in one of the trucks they jumped and finds themselves in jeopardy when its owners track them down to retrieve the stash, and gives them a chance to get off the hook by means of taking on a risky mission.

Imahe Nasyon is a groundbreaking, conceptual omnibus film by 20 alternative filmmakers who were tasked to present their personal visions on national issues. Renowned line producers Jon and Carol Red hatched the idea of revisiting the 1986 EDSA revolution, challenging directors to answer the question "What happened after 1986?" with a short film not longer than five minutes each. Despite individual techniques, the same goal is shared: to depict a truthful image of the nation at present.

Welcome to the hometown of Yoyong, Poklat, Boying and Uding. Here, there are no big shopping malls, no tall buildings. There are only huge mountains and vast fields as far as the eye can see, and clouds that seem to be always embracing the mountains. Life is simple for the four boys. They are content and very happy if they could eat three meals a day and are able to play. All of them, except for Uding who is an orphan, have left their homes in the mountains because they couldn’t bear the harsh treatment of their parents.

Every night, Nana Lusing lies on her bed sleepless because she sees a dark figure looming in her room. Who is this shadow? Is this the devil? Her late husband? A manifestation of her anxieties? Or simply a figment of her imagination?

Two half-brothers from the Isinay tribe, long separated, reunite and join a sepak takraw—or kickball—team, a sport considered a national game in the Philippines. As they face the challenges of the game, they also confront deep-seated family issues and discrimination within their community, experiencing a whirlwind of emotions and hardships in their struggle through life.

A brother and sister trek over mountains, cross rivers, and walk over a bridge between cliffs to and from school. After school, they take care of pigs and their ill grandfather in bed. At night they dine with their older brother and do homework. Looks like a simple life which has nothing to lose, but it has. When news arrives that the mine is collapsed where their older siblings have been working to support them, the family falls in danger of starvation. The repetition of daily life mixes with dramatic tension which gradually rushes to them.

The film depicts the troubles of Jonas and his sisters Carmina and Tricia , who have moved to their family’s old farm after Jonas’ real estate business sank. Jonas hires the help of some local men to put up a fence around their property, and while they all seem helpful at first, they become an indelible source of frustration for him and his sisters.

Mabuti accidentally finds a stash of money that could bring an end to her family’s financial problems: is the solution that simple or is it loaded with complications?