Gutierrez “Teng” Mangansakan II

From What Is Before

Lav Diaz

Perry Dizon, Roeder Camanag

The Philippines, 1972. Mysterious things are happening in a remote barrio. Wails are heard from the forest, cows are hacked to death, a man is found bleeding to death at the crossroad and houses are burned. Ferdinand E. Marcos announces Proclamation No. 1081 putting the entire country under Martial Law.

Limbunan

Gutierrez “Teng” Mangansakan II

Joem Bascon, Tetchie Agbayani

The film captures the ritual motions of the women in a family preparing for the wedding of seventeen-year-old Ayesah who is betrothed to a man she barely knows. As preparations for her union is underway, Ayesah is reunited with her childhood tutor Maguid who returns to the village as a militiaman after five years, reawakening Ayesah’s past memory of childhood infatuation. Throughout Ayesah’s confinement her precocious and rebellious eight-year-old sister Saripa becomes her eyes to the world beyond her room. Her mother Amina keeps her composure despite the fact her husband sleeps with his second wife half of the time, finding solace in the belief that it is both her religious and familial duty to be an obedient wife. Ayesah’s aunt Farida is tasked to ensure that she is prepared for the wedding. However, Farida’s dark past challenges Ayesah’s resolve finding herself choosing between love and loyalty to tradition and family.

Daughters of the Three Tailed Banner

Gutierrez “Teng” Mangansakan II

Fe GingGing Hyde, Evelyn Vargas

A family is in ruins after the last male member dies. To salvage their future, the matriarch Kadiguia decides to look for a suitable husband for the eligible Tonina to continue the line of martyrs and warriors. Many miles away in the city, Aida secretly works in a hotel after falling victim to an illegal recruiter. She hides this fact from her family who believes that she is in faraway Kuwait working as a nanny.

Cartas de la Soledad

Gutierrez “Teng” Mangansakan II

Perry Dizon, Mayka B. Lintongan

Rashid Ali returns to his Maguindanao hometown after studying and working for more than 25 years in Barcelona, Spain. Idealistic, he dreams of using what he learned in Europe to improve the lives of his people. But nothing has changed since he left. Politicians remain corrupt, poverty is widespread, his people desperate.

The Obscured Histories and Silent Longings of Daguluan's Children

Gutierrez “Teng” Mangansakan II

Jelieta Mariveles-Ruca, June Sanchez

A portrait of a village in the southern Philippines which combines documentary footage with staged scenes. The film follows the villagers as they go about their lives, struggle with poverty, and try to maintain traditions while the country appears to be headed for war.

Forbidden Memory

Gutierrez “Teng” Mangansakan II

Forbidden Memory summons remembrances and memories of the fateful days in September 1974 when about 1,500 men from Malisbong and neighboring villages in Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat were killed while 3,000 women and children were forcibly taken to naval boats stationed nearby where they encountered unspeakable horror. For 40 years, the survivors lived in relative silence. Now they tell their stories.

Qiyamah

Gutierrez “Teng” Mangansakan II

Bein Ali Unayan, Mayka B. Lintongan

One morning, residents of a rural village are horrified when the sun rises in the West. According to Islamic belief, this phenomenon signals the Apocalypse. As village folk react differently to the situation, a tragedy strikes when one of the residents is raped and her brother brutally murdered as he tries to avenge her. Steep in superstition, the villagers attribute these to the Devil himself.

Masla A Papanok

Gutierrez “Teng” Mangansakan II

Quennie Lyne Demoral, Krigi Hager

A princess seeks refuge in a Convent to escape an arranged marriage. A young prince tries to make sense of his station. A giant bird mysteriously appears after centuries of absence. MASLA A PAPANOK (AVE) mixes history, myth, memory and magic to reimagine the Spanish colonial period in Mindanao like never before.