When the Apocalypse Is Over: New Independent Philippine Cinema

When the Apocalypse Is Over: New Independent Philippine Cinema

11 Episodes

These stylistically radical, bracingly contemporary films offer new ways of seeing Philippine myths, pasts, presents, and futures. Making innovative use of digital technologies, extreme color grading, and unexpected aspect ratios, a new generation of young Philippine filmmakers explodes genre conventions to imagine stories of absurd, alienating worlds and lonely characters longing for something or someone outside the limited reach of the frame. Taken together, these alternate cinematic dimensions form an exciting body of work that nods to the past while feeling startlingly, ecstatically new.

Programmed by Aaron Hunt

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When the Apocalypse Is Over: New Independent Philippine Cinema

11 Episodes

  • Cleaners
    1:18:54
    Cleaners
    Episode 1

    Cleaners

    Episode 1

    Directed by Glenn Barit • 2019 • Philippines
    Starring Ianna Taguinod, Leomar Baloran, Julian Narag

    At a Catholic high school in the Philippine city of Tuguegarao, a rambunctious batch of students rebel against all expectations to be clean: a germaphobe is tested by a bout of uncontrollable diarr...

  • OctoGod
    23:15
    OctoGod
    Episode 2

    OctoGod

    Episode 2

    Directed by Shievar Olegario • 2019 • Philippines
    Starring Shievar Olegario

    An elusive graphic designer, who steals and retouches photos for his website, finds himself in another dimension after updating his site’s content.

  • Dikit
    16:14
    Dikit
    Episode 3

    Dikit

    Episode 3

    Directed by Gabriela Serrano • 2021 • Philippines
    Starring Mariana Serrano, Mika Zarcal, Jarrett Cross Pinto

    A young woman with a monstrous secret desperately longs for a different body. When the new couple in town moves in next door, she sees her chance to finally get one.

  • i get so sad sometimes
    20:06
    i get so sad sometimes
    Episode 4

    i get so sad sometimes

    Episode 4

    Directed by Trishtan Perez • 2021 • Philippines
    Starring JC Santiago, Karl Louie Caminade, Russ Ligtas

    In the small town of Pagadian in the Philippines, a gay teenager eagerly waits for a mature man to finally reveal his face after developing an anonymous sexual relationship with him online.

  • It’s Raining Frogs Outside
    14:07
    It’s Raining Frogs Outside
    Episode 5

    It’s Raining Frogs Outside

    Episode 5

    Directed by Maria Estela Paiso • 2021 • Philippines
    Starring Alyana Cabral

    As the apocalypse looms, a young Filipino woman is forced to return to her childhood home in the province of Zambales. There, as frogs rain down from the sky, she confronts traumatic memories that condense into a surreal ...

  • Somewhere a Destination
    08:48
    Somewhere a Destination
    Episode 6

    Somewhere a Destination

    Episode 6

    Directed by Celeste Lapida • 2021 • Philippines
    Starring Celeste Lapida

    “ . . . people who move away from the gender they were assigned at birth [. . .] want to strike out toward some new location, some space not yet clearly defined or concretely occupied; [. . .] the movement across a socially ...

  • Bold Eagle
    16:26
    Bold Eagle
    Episode 7

    Bold Eagle

    Episode 7

    Directed by Whammy Alcazaren • 2022 • Philippines
    Starring Ricky Davao, Gio Gahol, luckymaybe1923

    Trapped at home with his talking cat, a man seeks refuge in the strong arms of strange men as together they venture deep down into the nether regions of the Internet in search of true happiness. Cau...

  • The Gossips of Cicadidae
    18:07
    The Gossips of Cicadidae
    Episode 8

    The Gossips of Cicadidae

    Episode 8

    Directed by Vahn Leinard Pascual • 2022 • Philippines
    Starring Rolando Inocencio, AJ Benoza, Alleison Dimatulac

    Drawing on silent-film aesthetics from a bygone era, this mesmerizing monochrome short tells a story of forbidden love. A young boy struggles with feeling trapped in his inherited role...

  • the river that never ends
    19:02
    the river that never ends
    Episode 9

    the river that never ends

    Episode 9

    Directed by JT Trinidad • 2022 • Philippines
    Starring Emerald Romero, Hesus Deligero, Ron Go

    Along a river undergoing major development, Baby, a middle-aged trans woman, shuttles between her job as a companion-for-hire for strangers and her duty to her father. As the people around Baby start to ...

  • Rocks in a Windless Wadi
    22:57
    Rocks in a Windless Wadi
    Episode 10

    Rocks in a Windless Wadi

    Episode 10

    Directed by EJ Gagui • 2022 • Philippines

    Three men describe their long-buried childhood traumas as mysterious, ghostly images shot around a wadi flicker before our eyes.

  • Hito
    21:56
    Hito
    Episode 11

    Hito

    Episode 11

    Directed by Stephen Lopez • 2023 • Philippines
    Starring Kyrie Allison Samodio, Jun Jun Quintana, Bor Ocampo

    Between nuclear reactors and military curfews, fourteen-year-old Jani lives in a dystopian world oppressively devoid of empathy. Together, she and her slippery new friend Kiefer the talkin...

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