𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮 𝗔𝗻𝗮: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗯 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗹𝗮

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

November 1991 •English

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.

Return to Manila: Filipino Cinema

October 2010 •English

Documentary about the history of Philippine cinema.

Jingle lang ang Pahina

June 2012 •Tagalog

Jingle Chordbook Magazine, first published in 1970, promptly taught a generation of Filipinos to play the guitar. Its story also explores how a small independent publication survived the weight of its time – the dark Martial Law years – and how it inspired the Filipino youth to think for themselves and wield the guitar like a weapon. The documentary “Jingle Lang Ang Pahina” tells the story of Jingle, its ragtag crew, and its loyal fans in a rambling, multi-layered narrative told in different voices and perspectives by the writers, artists, fans, collectors, musicians, freaks.

The Girl and the Typhoons

December 2015 •English

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.

Eldest Among the Seven

November 2017 •Tagalog

Sampaloc Lake - the most prominent of the seven lakes of San Pablo City has provided shelter, employment and inspiration to its immediate community for countless decades. In return, the natural resource suffered from indiscriminate use of the residents themselves and the consequences of rapid urbanization. Recently, the local government have implemented a clearing of all residential structures within the legal easement of the dying lake to pave the way for a tourism master plan that endeavors to balance revenue and environmental protection. In the eve of the clearing operations, film maker Dennis Empalmado documented the final musings of the residents, advocates, and artists whose lives revolved around the 99 hectare crater lake.

War Baby

June 2019 •English

Meet Duewand Collier Jr.-Male, 68 years old, American Citizen, a child conceived in the backdrop of the Philippines-American Mutual Defense Treaty, born and raised with Catholic guilt. He has made peace with his past and now tells his story-a story of love.

Pinoi Rock and Rhythm

January 2003 •English

Pinoi Rock & Rhythm sheds the spotlight on four obscure yet significant figures in contemporary Philippine Popular Culture. Rebel Disc Jockey Dante "Howlin" Dave David, Stills Photographer and former stuntman Mr. Johnny Albia, Elvis Presley devotee Mr. Chito Bertol and Pinoy Rock guitar icon Mr. Jun Lopito. The documentary unfolds lighthearted, candid and sometimes outrageous introspection from the four individuals on the ups and downbeats of their respective careers.

In Memory of Rock

January 1963 •French

The rock-wild youth of the 1960s during the apparitions of their idols.

The Aryans

April 2014 •German

THE ARYANS is Mo Asumang's personal journey into the madness of racism during which she meets German neo-Nazis, the US leading racist, the notorious Tom Metzger and Ku Klux Klan members in the alarming twilight of the Midwest. In The ARYANS Mo questions the completely wrong interpretation of "Aryanism" - a phenomenon of the tall, blond and blue-eyed master race.

Appointment in Tokyo

December 1945 •English

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.

We Were the Scenery

January 2025 •Vietnamese

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.”

A Calling to Care

September 2001 •English

A Calling to Care is the inspiring story of 55 year-old Grace Stanley, a Canadian nurse who left her home and prestigious career behind to answer a calling halfway around the world in Karachi, Pakistan. Teaching nursing to local women in a strict Muslim culture that forbids them to even to touch men is a formidable task. However, Grace challenges her own values and belief systems to find common ground with her students, helping them to excel and feel respect for themselves in a culture that doesn't respect them. Whether it is getting her hands painted with henna, swimming fully-clothed in the ocean, or marching bravely with them on International Women's Day, Grace bonds with her students in a very special way, and ultimately discovers how the West can learn a lot more from the Third World than she ever thought.

Sonaggios

April 2025 •English

In the Sardinian town of Tonara, where the ancient art of crafting cowbells teeters on the edge of extinction, a family battles to preserve their heritage, passing down skills to a new generation while grappling with personal struggles and the pull of modernity. English subtitles.

Writing the Land

December 2007 •English

In this short documentary, a Musqueam elder rediscovers his Native language and traditions in the city of Vancouver, in the vicinity of which the Musqueam people have lived for thousands of years. Writing the Land captures the ever-changing nature of a modern city - the glass and steel towers cut against the sky, grass, trees and a sudden flash of birds in flight and the enduring power of language to shape perception and create memory.

ICYMI: I See Me

October 2019 •Tagalog

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.

The Matrix: Generation

December 2023 •French

After the 1999 premiere of the first Matrix movie, it became a pop culture phenomenon. A special documentary about the Matrix saga and its prophetic aspects.

Tokyo Phoenix

May 2017 •French

In 150 years, twice marked by total destruction —a terrible earthquake in 1923 and incendiary bombings in 1945— followed by a spectacular rebirth, Tokyo, the old city of Edo, has become the largest and most futuristic capital in the world in a transformation process fueled by the exceptional resilience of its inhabitants, and nourished by a unique phenomenon of cultural hybridization.

Nos restaurants : Une grande histoire française

December 2023 •French

Adonis

February 2024 •French

A hard-hitting documentary that tackles head-on a controversial but increasingly alarming subject: young men's obsession with the perfect body, and the use of performance-enhancing drugs to achieve it. Once the preserve of top-level athletes, the use of anabolic steroids has become endemic among teenagers and young men with a passion for bodybuilding. Daring to tackle head-on the taboo of male beauty standards, Adonis offers a field investigation into the heart of this muscle-building machine, questioning the reasons behind and the physical, psychological and social risks of this race to the perfect body. As he stages his own vulnerability, the filmmaker lifts the veil on the scale of the public health crisis that is looming.

Baon Sa Biyahe

December 2022 •Tagalog

The Jeepney is a common affordable transportation in the Philippines. Made from abandoned American Jeeps during World War II, the Jeepney remains a symbolic figure of the Philippine identity.