Diwa de Leon

Chased by police, bike thief Isaac asks his boss for help but gets the cold shoulder. He then plans vengeance against the boss... Payback depicts a man caught in a slum's crime ring.

Lando, a laid-back fisherman, enjoys joining the yearly "Aguman Sanduk" fellowship cross-dressing festivity with his peers of Alpha males as an enjoyable rest and recreation. Meanwhile, his mundane everyday life back in his isolated hut surrounded by fish pond waters is beset with a horrifying secret about him being physically abused by his wife, beating him to a pulp and sometimes degrades him verbally with no remorse constantly about women being linked to him. Lori, the wife, is set to leave for abroad as a domestic helper. She harbors ill feelings against Lando whom she caught meeting with his ex-girlfriend in a rendezvous. Her unusual violent streak becomes acceptably normal to Lando, who easily yields to his guilt. In a heated, passionate moment of desire, Lori steps back upon realizing that she doesn't love Lando anymore.

Abused and battered wife, Joy, stands up for justice against her alcoholic husband, Dante, in a turmoil process of the justice system.

Life turns riveting for Nanong when the tabloid-format reality TV show, AKIN ANG KORONA chances upon his curious life in a sleepy seaside town in Catanauan Quezon. Nanong agrees to film his daily life drying herring, with a deal that they would help find his lost father. Nanong’s quest for a missing parent will become a search of truth, of wonder, of the self-wrapped in the direction framed for and by the TV program.

Yield is an ethnographic inquiry done over a period of five years, documenting the lives of nine children living in dire Third World conditions. Stonecutters April, Ariel, and Rommel are siblings living off selling rocks they hack off a menacing mountain. Jomar scours the ocean silt for gold. Edralen and Jason tend to and transport agricultural products. With the addition of Alex and Glady Mae, both born with hydrocephalus; and Essam, a child warrior-the definition of labor is expounded to include another meaning: labor as part of the creation and eventual decline of life.

Jess is a young woman running from her past and moves into the house of a warmhearted landlady. She finds a diary in her room that belonged to an old tenant. As days pass, strange occurrences ensue and the diary’s words take an eerie turn when Jess finds herself in the middle of a malevolent turn of events from a dark past not entirely her own.

Mga Rebeldeng May Kaso is about the aftermath of the so-called People Power Revolution of 1986, spawning a group of young dreamers bewildered, wonder, and wandering, discovering the fire of youth, the loss of innocence, the journey into the core of one’s being, immersing themselves in a brewing new alternative culture and a little known and lowly regarded revolution of sorts the emergence of a new underground, independent and alternative cinema.

The story of the rebuilding of their lives by the survivors of the disaster caused by Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, particularly focusing on the struggles of a mother who lost their children.

Many have been aspiring for the position of Major Mac Favila, who is every cadet's ideal officer considering he is sharp, snappy, witty, and most of all, the most masculine among the school's many officers. Private Abel Sarmiento, who was abused when he was a child and Cain Fujika, a Filipino-Japanese whose mother worked abroad as a japayuki are the top contenders for his position.

Many have been aspiring for the position of Major Mac Favila, who is every cadet's ideal officer considering he is sharp, snappy, witty, and most of all, the most masculine among the school's many officers. Private Abel Sarmiento, who was abused when he was a child and Cain Fujika, a Filipino-Japanese whose mother worked abroad as a japayuki are the top contenders for his position.

Lorna is sixty year old woman who is constantly searching for the right man, having failed at so many relationships. Having lived close to a lifetime alone, she decides to take another stab at moving on and more importantly, love.

A single father accidentally kills his eight-year-old daughter by administering the wrong medication. He finds it challenging not only to have her body buried but also to bury his culpability.

When Kana, a young T'boli woman, becomes a dreamweaver, she has the chance to weave together her village's warring clans. But, will she give up true love to do so?

Melba is the wife of a slain farmer-leader whose murder is attributed to an incumbent governor. She goes to the city to appeal the case and to seek out a new life after the tragedy. Working as a staff member at the office of City Councilor, she is introduced to the life inside politics. Eventually she will be deeply involved, as her decision to marry the budding politician lays a carefully planned agenda.

A 12-year old Anita falls in love with the new woman in town; years later, a girlhood crush blossoms during the Fiesta of Santa Clara in Obando, Bulacan.

Inspired by the actual story of one of the youngest mothers in Philippine history, “Nuwebe” follows the story of Krista who at the tender age of 9 got pregnant from the sexual abuse perpetrated by her own father. What follows is a story of struggle and renewal. Krista’s story is complex. She refuses to see herself as a victim. Despite her situation, she demonstrates an incredible level of resilience and determination to overcome the trauma of her past. Her mother on the other hand is torn between her love for her child and her love for her husband.

A man gets involved with two mystic sisters who happened to save him from dying ashore.

A story of a businessman incapable of emotion, drawing thousands of squares on paper in exchange of gold.

The title “Kamera Obskura” is a Filipino spelling of the latin “Camera Obscura” which simply means “dark room”. The film’s concept adheres to formalist cinema, where the filmmaker’s thesis is to make a semblance of a vintage film seemingly produced sometime in the late 1920s to early 1930s in the Philippines. The thesis is to conjure up a film from a period that did not really exist in Philippine cinema’s historical cultural heritage as we know it, such as a pseudo-expressionist / experimental Filipino cinema of the silent film era. It is a film within a film. The narrative plays with the idea of a retro-futurist world where a prisoner locked away in a dark chamber for over two decades only sees the reality of the world outside through the small hole in his cell, which projects an image of the city on his wall, the phenomenon of the “camera obscura”.

Set in an affluent, upper middle class village in the suburbs, “The Animals” chronicles a day in the life of Jake, Trina, and Alex, who go through the musings that every kid in high school has to deal with. All Jake wants to do is have a good time, Alex just wants to fit in, and Trina simply wants more. A very vivid picture is painted of life in high school after the final bell rings, as well as a different side of the Philippines, and what is happening to its privileged children.

Whenever the schoolchildren sing the national anthem eight-year-old Toto is asked to keep quiet. He has a cleft lip and his garbled voice always makes everyone laugh. But this boy from the slums is a battler and not so easily daunted. His mate is a little boy who is hard of hearing; when these two are on the prowl together even the bruiser next door doesn’t bother them. Toto’s mother can’t really look after her son much. She’s got too much on her plate trying to manage her men. She dreams of going to Japan to work as a geisha. But if push comes to shove Toto can always depend on his headstrong yet warm-hearted mother. She even supports his somewhat ludicrous plan to take part in a public speaking contest.

Based on a true story, Cuchera is about Filipino drug mules, drug couriers and their recruiters. It follows the story of Isabel, a veteran drug mule, in her first attempt at running her own drug transshipment operation between Manila and China. Isabel’s character is based on the story of an actual Filipina drug mule who was caught with eight capsules of heroin lodged in her sex organ, 48 in the rectum and 11 in her abdomen after an x-ray was conducted by Chinese authorities. Cuchera presents an accurate depiction of how some Filipinos end up becoming entrenched in the world of illegal drugs. Currently, the Philippines leads all Southeast Asian countries in the number of nationals arrested for drug smuggling charges in China. As of 2009, there are currently 95 Filipinos languishing in various jails in Chinese territories---four of whom are on death row. Violators include minors who enter China with fake passports.

Punay was born with wounds on her feet so that she cannot step on the earth. Her brother, Angkarang, carries her through a hammock, as he searches the changing landscape of Palawan in hoping to find a healer who can cure Punay. Different people help him carry his sister along the way- a woman looking for her husband, a fisherman who lost his boat, and a young man who is searching for himself- and each one meets their fate.

Fifteen years ago, Violy Langit (Eugene Domingo), an owner of a small funeral parlor, learns that she is suffering from a medical condition that requires her to undergo a hysterectomy. All her life, she’s wanted to have children, and she realizes that she has to do it before the procedure. But Violy has no man in her life – no husband, no boyfriend, no suitors. She seeks the help of her gay best friend, Mandy (John Lapus). Out of pity and love for Violy, Mandy offers his boyfriend, Carlo (Diether Ocampo) to serve as a sperm donor.

What is the measure of true friendship? Jamir, a devout Muslim, and Lando, a Christian, are among an elite group of young recruits formed by military officers for a classified operation. These impressionable young men would undergo intense and grueling training that put their will and strength of character to the test. Amidst all the hardships, these men set aside their differences and became brothers. But what happens when the institution they have sworn to protect becomes the wedge that will tear their brotherhood apart?

Magkakapatid is a story about a family that drifts apart due to socio-economic differences. Three siblings, three narratives, one tragedy, wherein a brother kills his own brother, a father struggles to accept a daughter’s marriage, and a daughter who could not mourn. In a situation where even traditions can’t pull them together, a tragedy drags them together.

"Emir" is all about Amelia (Frenscheska Farr). Amelia hails from Ilocos and she is forced to find work abroad to provide for her family. Amelia leaves her family and everything she loves behind. Amelia applies as a nanny and is lucky enough to be the caretaker of the Sheik's pregnant wife. Later on, Amelia is given appointed nanny of the Sheik's first born son Ahmed. Through the years, Amelia will not only see Ahmed grow to a boy but she will also learn more about life's trials and tribulations, struggles of lonely worker in a foreign country.

Inspired by a true news account, this is the astounding story of a lone deranged hijacker who has struggled to survive in the chaos of modern Philippine society.

Sandy and Phil, both Overseas Workers in Dubai, are busy preparing for their wedding. Upon reaching her home, Sandy learns from her mother, Daisy, what happened to her friend, Helen. A short time after Helen's father died, Helen proceeded with her wedding. A few weeks after the wedding, Helen's husband dies in a plane crash. As Helen goes to the crash site, she dies in a bus accident. A few weeks later, Helen's mother suddenly disappears inside her house. Their bodies have never been recovered. Sandy proceeds with her own wedding. During the ceremony, she suffers from nosebleed and starts seeing glimpses of a ghostly flower girl.