Auraeus Solito

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.

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

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

An anthology of one-minute films created by 60 international filmmakers on the theme of the death of cinema. Intended as an ode to 35mm, the film was screened one time only on a purpose-built 20x12 meter public cinema screen in the Port of Tallinn, Estonia, on 22 December 2011. A special projector was constructed for the event which allowed the actual filmstrip to be burnt at the same time as the film was shown.

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.

Documentary profiling the directors involved in the loose Philippine New Wave filmmaking movement.

A poet sells his collection of comic books and action figures in order to afford to hire a male stripper on New Years Eve.

The film, set in the 1980s, is centred upon a young student, from 1982 as a freshman and ending in 1986. The background is the last years of Martial Law in the Philippines where the Marcos dictatorship was at its peak.

The film, set in the 1980s, is centred upon a young student, from 1982 as a freshman and ending in 1986. The background is the last years of Martial Law in the Philippines where the Marcos dictatorship was at its peak.

The daughter of a circumciser rebels and challenges the status quo when she is asked to take over her father's job.

A 12-year-old gay who comes from a criminal family falls in love with a handsome policeman.

A 12-year-old gay who comes from a criminal family falls in love with a handsome policeman.

Solito returns to his hometown on Palawan Island and captures the sacred rituals and daily lives of its people on film. We see the ongoing disintegration of the islanders’ way of life due to the intrusion of multinational corporations and other forces, and the resulting anger. The echoes of percussion and rhythm of the images unite harmoniously, drawing the viewer into the extraordinary world of this film.

Howie Severino, who grew up on the American East Coast, returned to the Philippines and found work as a journalist. As he follows the story of filmmaker Auraeus Solito’s rediscovery of his tribal Palawan roots, Severino likewise interrogates his own notions of seeking identity and community as a Filipino.

An ode to Rogelio Sikat’s classic Filipino short story “Impeng Negro,” about a boy who is both Filipino and Black.

Dr. Jose Rizal was exiled in Dapitan from 1892-1896. These were his last four years. Dapitan served as his prison cell. He always compared it to “a beautiful cage” where he is imprisoned. This was the longest imprisonment Rizal ever had. He became so lost by those times, but still he did not lose his mind. Even there, he continued studying and discovering things. He continued his conversation with his friends, scientists and doctors outside the country.

Suring casts a spell of immense beauty, but is persecuted by humanity. She retreats to the forests, far from the prying eyes of humans. There, she befriends the Kuk-ok, a creature who can morph into any form.

Suring casts a spell of immense beauty, but is persecuted by humanity. She retreats to the forests, far from the prying eyes of humans. There, she befriends the Kuk-ok, a creature who can morph into any form.

With interviews with National Artists Lamberto Avellana and Lino Brocka and myriad talents from the Mowelfund community such as Nick Deocampo and Raymond Red, Beyond Mainstream documents the robust energy of nascent independent filmmaking in the country in the 80s. Based on Nick Deocampo's first book Short Film: The Emergence of a New Philippine Cinema (1985), it features the first Independent Film and Video Festival held in the Wave Cinema in Cubao, Quezon City, the first video theater in the country.