Short category A
DISCONNECTION NOTICE |
DIRECTED BY
GLENN LOWELL FORNESTE AVERIA
Paul, who struggles as a new member of the labor force, comes home to their rented space fuming because of the household mess that Carl, his youngest brother who just set foot in Manila to study, has left unattended. Paul berates him in annoyance, frustrated that he has to shuffle between working and being the eldest sibling who looks after their youngest and the space that they occupy. Unbeknownst to him, Carl is also struggling to adjust to the urban life away from home and their family who stays in the province. Before they know it, the distance between them becomes wider; the silence gets deafening, and the isolation gets glaring. Caught in a space that does not speak of home, Paul decides to recreate their space and change his faulty ways of dealing with his youngest brother.
GATILYO (TRIGGER) |
DIRECTED BY
HAROLD LANCE PIALDA
Rodel was the lone survivor of a failed operation by a group of soldiers led by the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Maguindanao. The soldiers were ambushed by the rebels, leaving only Rodel who hid behind the big trees surrounding the area of the ambush to survive. Although a survivor, Rodel faces the scar and trauma that the incident had left him.
HEIST SCHOOL |
DIRECTED BY
JULIUS RENOMERON JR
On the brink of failing high school, wayward best friends Omar and Joedel devise a risky plan to keep their graduation plans alive. With everything at stake, the odd duo takes their final test of resiliency, street smarts, and most of all, friendship.
SA GABING TANGING LIWANAG AY PANINIWALA
(BELIEF AS THE LIGHT IN DARKNESS) |
DIRECTED BY
FRANCIS GUILLERMO
Soliman, a town captain, leads a search team to look for the missing people and investigate who and where they are taken. As days pass by, Soliman’s team would come across bodies with seemingly no souls. When the search failed and Soliman made his way home, his son Dylan was aware that something was left behind. One dark evening, Dylan knew Soliman had made it home, but it wasn’t really his father.
‘WAG MO ‘KONG KAUSAPIN (PLEASE STOP TALKING) |
DIRECTED BY
JOSEF GACUTAN
This animated film centers on Sixto and his son Alex, who comes home after years away. As Sixto tries to repair their relationship, an antagonizing black figure starts to invade his vision.
Short category B
HELE NG MAHARLIKA (LULLABY OF THE FREE) |
DIRECTED BY
NORVIN DE LOS SANTOS
The city is in a state of siege. Masumah, a neophyte child combatant, tries to Outlast the day while still fulfilling one of the practices of his faith, salat al-‘isha – a prayer done before going to sleep. He finds a bombed house where he meets a newly orphaned, infidel boy who escapes from reality by reminiscing his mom’s lullaby. The two spends some time together, staring at a seemingly spectacular display of fireworks in the night sky.
KONTROLADO NI GIRLY ANG BUHAY N’YA
(GIRLY IS IN CONTROL OF HER LIFE) | DIRECTED BY
GILB BALDOZA
Girly, an unemployed gay man, lives below poverty line with a passive mother and an abusive father. He later finds his mother being sexually harassed by her partner. His life changes when the abuses also happened to Girly and he has nothing left to do but to control his life forward.
SA AMONG AGWAT
(IN BETWEEN SPACES) |DIRECTED BY
DON SENOC
June, a 16-year-old farmer, lives with his mother Mina and his younger brother Mako near a pineapple field in Bukidnon. His aunt from Manila offers to adopt his brother Mako and let him study in a prestigious school. His mother is hesitant at first but later on agrees with the offer. Even if he is against it, June convinces Mako to go, thinking it would be best for his future. The two brothers now face their impending separation and think of ways they can spend every minute together before their aunt arrives.
TEMBONG (CONNECTING)|
DIRECTED BY
SHAIRA ADVINCULA
Grieving for the recent passing of his mother, a T’boli man from South Cotabato collects a series of patterns as an abaca goddess visits him in his dreams. He takes a journey of unearthing his history, making him disregard the consequences of defying a sanctified practice through secretly enduring the tedious process of weaving T’nalak – defining birth, life, marriage, and death, a sacred cloth only to be weaved by women.
THE SHOE MAKER |
DIRECTED BY
SHERON DAYOC
Grace, a 65-year-old widow, runs a shoe factory in Marikina, the Shoe Capital of the Philippines. One day, Elias, Grace’s first love and first heartbreak, returns to her doorstep, asking for a pair of custom-made shoes. Circumstances force Grace to make him his pair of shoes. And when she does, she starts to slowly uncover the very reason why Elias returns for her forgiveness. When heartache returns from years ago, will it heal wounds or will it lead to more cuts?
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