When the Manila Symphony Orchestra is evicted from its regular rehearsal and performance space, the orchestra must step out of its comfort zone if it wants to survive.
Social & External
Produced by the Army Pictorial Service, Signal Corps, with the cooperation of the Army Air Forces and the United States Navy, and released by Warner Bros. for the War Activities Committee shortly after the surrender of Japan. Follow General Douglas MacArthur and his men from their exile from the Philippines in early 1942, through the signing of the instrument of surrender on the USS Missouri on September 1, 1945. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.
Documentary about the growth of street dancing in the Philippines
In the north of the Philippines lies the area of Banaue, known for its rice cultivation. Roger lives here in a small village. Roger is thirteen and has five brothers and sisters. As the oldest, he is responsible for the daily firewood. To get this, Roger sets off into the mountains every other day. At seven in the morning, they start. A truck takes Roger and his four friends out into the steep, forested slopes above the rice terraces. With them on the back of the truck are the 'scooters', homemade wooden scooters with which the firewood is driven down to the valley. Once they reach the top, they cut down smaller logs, chop them up and pack their scooters full of them. After this strenuous work, the great fun begins. On bumpy paths and at breakneck speed, they make their way back to the village. Races and tricks are part of the fun, of course.
A straightforward story of a grandfather and grandchild who work as fishermen in Bacoor, Cavite.
Kupkop, which literally means to “adopt”, follows three abandoned children with cerebral palsy who find love and affection through their foster kin.
Roel Cabato, a Baguio-based Ilocano-Ifugao artist-environmentalist who creates artwork from rummaged materials and showcases them in his home and art space, Hanan’chi. Through his creations, he conveys his spiritual connection with his Ifugao background, as well as his campaign for environmentalism and recycling.
Set in Navotas City, Krudo Boys follows brothers Renato and Alyo who sell spilt crude oil scavenged from ships for a living.
Filmed in the mountains of Barotac Viejo, Iloilo, Pagrara Sang Patipuron revolves around a group of indigenous women who work as weavers. This documentary follows their creative process and how they maintain their place in an increasingly modern world.
A chronicle of the production problems — including bad weather, actors' health, war near the filming locations, and more — which plagued the filming of Apocalypse Now, increasing costs and nearly destroying the life and career of Francis Ford Coppola.
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.
In 1975, soon after the end of the Vietnam War, Hoa Thi Le and Hue Nguyen Che fled the country on a small boat. After nine days at sea, they docked in the Philippines, where they were utilized as background extras for “Apocalypse Now.”
French actress Marion Cotillard travelled to the Philippines to meet with children and young people on climate change and what they want big-polluting governments to do about it. One of the girls she met is Marinel, a survivor of the Super Typhoon disaster in the Philippines in 2013, who is taking action on climate change in her own community. She participates in Plan International’s climate change adaptation projects and now teaches at youth camps to pass on everything she has learnt to the younger children. Marinel travelled to Paris with Plan International for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in December 2015.
A music documentary on MNL48, a franchise of the highly successful Japanese idol group, AKB48. The film looks into the girls as they perform within a music subculture that tries to get a foothold in a market of an overtly critical audience.
YAYA is a story about a filmmaker who explores the complex relationship between his family and the domestic worker who spent decades away from her family in the Philippines to raise his. This documentary is a tribute to all the domestic workers in Hong Kong, who has served as the backbone of Hong Kong's economy by unleashing a substantial female workforce into the economy and taken care of so many lives with love and care. You are all heroes in the hearts of the Hong Kong people. - Justin Cheung, the director
Two Filipina victims of sexual abuse search the truth behind the finding of a renowned anthropologist: that merely a few generations ago, the Bontok Igorot lived in what seems an unthinkable utopia—a rape-less society.
"Bagong Buhay" is a short experimental film that dispels the common belief that packing up and moving to a new place will magically improve one's quality of life. The film challenges this presumption by portraying two contrasting ways of life through objects and locations, encouraging viewers to think critically about the complexities of what makes a better life. In the Philippines, it's believed that relocating to a new area will bring about positive changes in one's existence. True satisfaction is a complex and multifaceted notion, and "Bagong Buhay" encourages us to ponder that relocating to a new place is not a surefire way to attain it.
MORENA tells the uplifting story of the Philippine National Surf Athlete Ikit Agudo, who overcame the pressure to blend into a society obsessed with skin whitening. Within the ocean, she found happiness, strength, and pride in her roots. Inspiring young girls around the world to embrace who they truly are. In the Philippines, skin-whitening remains a billion-peso industry, a legacy of colonial beauty ideals that for generations have led many to neglect their true identity and natural beauty.
The Philippines is visited by an average of 20~28 strong typhoons and storms every year. It is the most storm-battered country in the world. Last year, Typhoon Haiyan, considered the strongest storm in history, struck the Philipines, leaving in its path apocalyptic devastation.
A musical docudrama about the brave and outstanding Women of Malolos to whom Jose Rizal addressed his famous letter in Feb 22, 1898.
A study in the ecology and conservation of whale sharks, the largest fish in the world and a vegetarian one at that.
The Making-of James Cameron's Avatar. It shows interesting parts of the work on the set.
A depiction of the Wrangelkiez neighbourhood in Berlin. The people portrayed tell their life stories. One woman came to the neighbourhood a decade ago to work in Berlin’s still unfinished Brandenburger Airport, one man reminisces his childhood on a Tobacco farm in Kentucky, another speaks of an exceptional day in an otherwise monotonous workplace. These portraits are interwoven with the story of Elpi, a Greek woman who is waiting for the long overdue visit of an old important friend. The outcome of this mixture is a film which captures the lives and perspectives of some of Wrangelkiez’s most commanding citizens, while at the same time evoking the loss that change and time passing means for places and for people.
Alex Gibney explores the charged issue of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, following a trail from the first known protest against clerical sexual abuse in the United States and all way to the Vatican.
“Showrunners” is the first ever feature length documentary film to explore the fascinating world of US television showrunners and the creative forces aligned around them. These are the people responsible for creating, writing and overseeing every element of production on one of the United State’s biggest exports – television drama and comedy series. Often described as the most complex job in the entertainment business, a showrunner is the chief writer / producer on a TV series and, in most instances, the show’s creator. Battling daily between art and commerce, showrunners manage every aspect of a TV show’s development and production: creative, financial and logistical.
A purely observational non-fiction film that takes viewers into the ethically murky world of end-of-life decision making in a public hospital.
A documentary that explores the downloading revolution; the kids that created it, the bands and the businesses that were affected by it, and its impact on the world at large.
If you ever find yourself traveling down Interstate 49 through Missouri, try not to blink—you may miss Rich Hill, population 1,396. Rich Hill is easy to overlook, but its inhabitants are as woven into the fabric of America as those living in any small town in the country. This movie intimately chronicles the turbulent lives of three boys living in said Midwestern town and the fragile family bonds that sustain them.
This character-driven film considers the evolving sex trafficking landscape as seen by the main players: the exploited, the pimps, the johns that fuel the business, and the cops who fight to stop it.
A documentary chronicling Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour's preparations for the 2007 fall-fashion issue.
Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
A portrait of the day-to-day operations of the National Gallery of London, that reveals the role of the employees and the experiences of the Gallery's visitors. The film portrays the role of the curators and conservators; the education, scientific, and conservation departments; and the audience of all kinds of people who come to experience it.
A comedic, brutally honest documentary following self-destructive TV writer Dan Harmon as he takes his live podcast on a national tour.
A documentary chronicling Queen and Lambert's incredible journey since they first shared the stage together on "American Idol" in 2009.
This documentary delves deeper into the creation of the Hamilton musical, revealing Lin-Manuel Miranda's process of absorbing and then adapting Hamilton's epic story into ground-breaking musical theater.
Jonas Mekas weaves an elegiac diary film from his 1971–72 return to Lithuania, chronicling a visit to his birthplace of Semeniškiai after decades in exile. Blending personal memory with documentary observation, the film becomes both a portrait of homecoming and a meditation on displacement, family, and the passage of time.
SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.
After the high-profile killing of Damilola Taylor, Cornelius' family move out of London. But when they discover their new town is run by racists, Cornelius takes a drastic step to survive.
Artists in LA discover the work of forgotten Polish sculptor Stanislav Szukalski, a mad genius whose true story unfolds chapter by astounding chapter.
A musical study of Los Angeles in the late 90s, where homeless teens roam the streets and profess to live a punk lifestyle of music, drugs, and flouting authority.
