Baka Búkas, Bukás Na

A-Maiseh

October 2004 •Hebrew

The warm relationship between Mendel, an elderly Holocaust survivor, and his Filipino caretaker, Jose, is tested when Jose does not have a work permit and the police begin searching the neighborhood for illegal foreign workers.

Sisingilin Ko Ng Dugo

November 1990 •Tagalog

A Filipino movie

My Partner

May 2023 •English

Two high school boys from different social worlds experience romantic feelings for each other. Edmar, a high-performing Filipino student, and Pili, a Native Hawaiian student-athlete, learn that navigating self-growth and teenage love in Hawaiʻi is as complicated as their understanding and love for Hawaiʻi and it’s ever-changing cultural landscape.

Lurch

March 2024 •Russian

Filipino-born Ella works as a nanny in a prosperous Moscow family. Day by day, she carries out the same routine actions: washing, cooking, cleaning, babysitting. But once she accidentally hurts her arm, her smooth repetitive life gradually gives a lurch…

TAKBO

May 2019 •English

‘TAKBO’ is a short experimental film that studies the realities by which young Filipino women live.

Kwentong Barbero

May 2023 •Tagalog

Dado is loving and responsible husband. He also told stories to his loyal customers, Alas and Pablo the secret of his strong relationship with Isay and how to treat women correctly. Eventually, the origin of the saying "Kwentong Barbero" will unfold as Dado shares his love conquest tales.

Paco

March 2022 •English

A Filipino immigrant struggles to maintain his façade of success in Vancouver when his family in Manila asks for a hard favour.

VS

May 2024 •English

Set in 1992, a Filipino kid working at his father’s liquor store seeks community through the arcade game Street Fighter II, but finds himself clashing with a local bully.

Kalakalaro

September 2019 •Tagalog

Benok, robbed off his childhood, had to work due to poverty. While his mother spends time on gambling. In his eyes, the world has changed where children work and adults play. Benok finds his way to experience how to become a real kid again.

Before

December 2022 •Tagalog

In a hidden paradise somewhere in the Philippines, two brothers share a simple but sufficient life. Things change when an unexpected visitor brings a new-found attention to their island home. With their idyllic island now on the tourism spotlight, they're now forced to cope with the perils of uncontrolled urbanization.

The One-Armed Executioner

April 1983 •English

An Interpol agent is out for revenge against the gangsters that cut off his arm and killed his bride. This tragedy left him deeply depressed, and his battle with depression has to be won first before he can be thoroughly trained in martial arts. After his training, Ortega hunts down his adversaries for a final reckoning.

Bata, Batak Ka Pa

May 2024 •Tagalog

A young boy's innocence is slowly deprived by digital overstimulation and the War on Drugs. Surrounded by a world of vices, his future becomes uncertain when he learns the truth about the people around him.

Luna

May 2019 •Tagalog

A Catholic Schoolgirl

November 2023 •Tagalog

A 15-year-old A-student defies the views of her all-girls Catholic school as she confronts her feelings for a school nun.

Little One

March 2024 •Tagalog

A pregnant mother, unsure of how to raise a child, arranges an interview with her two gay dads but fate intervenes when his dad suffers a heart attack. Her dad reflects on their family's history, captured on an old camcorder.

Dumula ng Isa, Dalawa, Tatlo...

December 2023 •English

A theater group begins their rehearsal on a play about a witness' account of a massacre eventually leading to a confrontation and inner conflicts of the actors portraying their roles.

OTEP The Dreamer

December 2023 •English

Embarking on a remarkable journey, Otep, a 16-year-old high school boy, faces a challenging narrative of education. It is where resources are as scarce as they are essential: as simple as a paper to write on and a pento write with. Realizing that his brother’s efforts in yielding meager wages will not make the cut in reaching for his dreams, Otep makes it his compass, resolving to carve his own destiny.

Ilo Ilo

August 2013 •Chinese

During the late 1990s, a busy working-class Singaporean couple hires a Filipino woman as a maid and nanny to their young son.

Tonight, You Will Shine!

May 2022 •English

A Filipino mother's obsession with her teenaged son becoming famous turns into delusion when she sneaks into his play rehearsal.

Travelers

June 2023 •Tagalog

The diaspora of Filipinos around the globe is driven mostly by the economics of supply and demand. The yearning for something better, stability, and self-validation leads a handful of sojourners from the provinces of the Philippines into the arms of one of its former colonial masters — the USA. But what happens when they finally get what they want? And how? Filmmaker Dennis Empalmado explores the musings of Filipino expatriates and hopeful immigrants in "Naglalakbay" (Travelers).