The Climate Story Lab is a film and media production workshop that empowers creatives to produce social-impact films or videos that connect audiences globally using transformative storytelling of climate change impacts that lead the public into strategic and meaningful actions to address climate change challenges in the Philippines.
Tuwali women and their community fight and resist a destructive mining giant operating for 25 years within their Indigenous community, only to be renewed by the Philippine government for another 25 years in 2021.
Director
Producer
Lolo Andres tells his grandson, Nonoy, that a foretold prophecy is starting to unfold. The seas will rise, the land will dry up, the animals will vanish, and man will live his last days in a dark apocalypse.
Director and Writer
Producer
A documentary of the fisherfolk of Barangay Agojo, Capiz, highlighting their innovation and effort for their community-led bamboo T-Fence and mangrove rehabilitation project
Current updates:
1. Two T-fences have been built since! Our efforts with Capiz coastal communities have tirelessly continued and even formalized through the formation of the Bangon Baybay initiative.
2. We’re looking for collaborators to document and tell the hopeful stories of our coastal communities.
Director
Producer and Writer
In a race against time amid the escalating climate crisis, the annual turtle nesting season along the coast of the West Philippine Sea becomes a battleground for survival as hatchlings overcome mounting challenges to ultimately make their way to sea. A lifeline amongst the chaos are groups of dedicated Pawikan Patrollers striving to ensure the survival of the species.
Director
Producer
‘Miki’ (noodle) house head cooks in Tuguegarao City, Enrile, and Aparri, reminisce about the evolution of their Pancit Batil Patung and Sinanta recipes realizing the changing environment had brought the extinction of plant and animal species that were previously grown and raised near the river banks of Cagayan.
Director
Producer
After many years of residing in Manila, Isay revisits her hometown in a remote part of Baguio to care for her sick grandmother, Lola Linga. During her stay, Lola Linga keeps talking about Iskaran, a group of monsters, which Isay couldn’t understand. When her grandmother dies, everything seems clear to Isay. Interlacing the story of Bangan, a legend about pine trees, Isay starts to unfold a disturbing incident in a place she once called home.
Director
Producer
Co-Producer
Two slices of life story in Pamarawan, where elements are slowly vanishing into thin air together with the island.
Director and Writer
Producer
In the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda’s devastation in Tacloban, Philippines, Fred, a humble tricycle driver, unwittingly becomes a compassionate guide to the lingering spirits of the storm’s victims.
Director and Writer
Producer
Russell, an 8-year-old boy who captures fireflies every night to create his own constellation of stars in a bottle, has his innocent world shattered by one horrifying event when a powerful Typhoon Yolanda strikes his hometown, propelling him on a poignant journey of survival, discovery, and the enduring power of hope.
Director
Producer
Writer
On Potok na Eyenede is a coming-of-age Ethnofiction film that tells the story of Dumagat-Remontado community in Rizal and their fight against the extractive industry in the foothills of Sierra Madre, told through the eyes of three young dumagat brothers who brave the wild trying to find and kill the beast that threatens to eat and destroy their community.
Director and Writer
Producer
In the face of a looming Typhoon Ondoy, a barangay chairwoman is faced with her own complacency to unite her community as her dismissal of the impending disaster led to a crisis.
Director and Writer
Producer
In a small barrio of fisherfolks, a young girl is raised with the love of his family and community. But as her youth buds, she faces the reality of growing up in a world that’s capable of uprooting her joys bit by bit.
Director
Producer
During the hottest day of the year, a distressed young waitress in a Chinese restaurant is denied a day off to see her ailing son in the province.
When she discovers he is in the hospital, she faces a searing dilemma, pushing her to the brink of desperation.
Director and Writer
Producer
As a man in a remote cliffside village prepares for bedtime, the tranquility of his evening is disrupted by a distant rumbling noise. Unease prompts him to descend to the lower cliff, only to discover his entire community, enveloped by a mystifying smog, frantically tearing their clothes as if consumed by an invisible fire.
Director and Writer
Producer
When seawater becomes warm, tuna fishermen from a small village in the Philippines get arrested in international waters.
Director and Writer
Producer
A 14-year-old Filipino tomboy embarks on a perilous voyage across the West Philippine Sea to uncover the whereabouts of her fisherwoman mother, who frequently leaves her behind, as she confronts ruthless turtle poachers and discovers her own strength and resilience.
Director
Producer
Co-Writer
When Dr. Tomas Solis attempts to warn his community about contaminated waters along a string of beach resorts in the Philippines, his commitment to public health is placed against powerful economic interests, and he ultimately becomes the enemy of this empire of sand. The film is a reflection on the consequences of speaking truth to power in the face of profit-driven interests.
Writer & Director
Producer
Associate Producer
Director: JP Corton
Est. TRT: 8 mins
Category: Animation
Producer: Jaime Morados
Genre: Drama, Coming-of-Age
Themes: Biodiversity, Typhoons, Disaster and Risk Reduction Management
Logline
In the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda in Tabango, Leyte, young Russell clings to a single firefly for comfort as the storm shatters his world. When the fireflies that once lit his nights begin to disappear, Russell must brave the darkness to find a new light of hope in the face of overwhelming loss.
Director: Milo Paz
Est. TRT: 12 mins
Category: Fiction
Producer: Cynthia Paz
Genre: Drama
Themes: Climate Change
Logline
Lolo Andres tells his grandson, Nonoy, that an ancient prophecy is starting to unfold. The seas will burn and rise. The land will dry up, the animals will vanish, and man will live his last days breathing the dark air of an impending apocalypse.
Director: Jerome Zamora
Est. TRT: 18 mins
Category: Fiction Narrative
Producer: Ma-an Dagñalan, Manny Angeles, Jon Galvez
Genre: Social Drama, Magic Realism
Themes: Heat, Labor
Logline
During one of the hottest days in the Philippines, a desperate young waitress in a Chinese restaurant is denied a day off to see her ailing son in the province. When she discovers he is in the hospital, she faces a searing dilemma, pushing her to the brink of desperation and visual hallucination.
Director: Jerome Dulin
Est. TRT: 19 mins
Category: Documentary
Producer: Josef Arcegono
Genre: Observational, Food
Themes: Food Sustainability, Climate Change, Agriculture
Logline
A local farmer and an old pancit cook from Tuguegarao City, recalls the modifications in the ingredients of the local noodle delicacy that reveals a story of adaptation, progress and the impacts of climate change.
The Climate Story Lab is a film and media production workshop that empowers creatives to produce social-impact films or videos that connect audiences globally using transformative storytelling of climate change impacts that lead the public into strategic and meaningful actions to address climate change challenges in the Philippines.
The Climate Story Lab offers an opportunity for young creatives and advocates to tell compelling climate stories that encourage audiences to take strategic and meaningful actions towards addressing climate issues. By providing hybrid training workshops and mentoring sessions by seasoned filmmakers and media professionals, the Climate Story Lab shall empower 20 producers and filmmakers with knowledge and skills in social impact filmmaking and video production. The project provides a unique opportunity for the creatives and filmmakers to advocate for the rights of the affected communities, speak with knowledge on pressing climate issues based on science, and enable the affected communities to tell their stories towards inspiring local leaders and other communities to be agents of change.
At the end of the lab, participants shall pitch their concepts to a jury of filmmakers and advocates. Selected concepts will be given a seed grant to produce their stories and participants will continuously be mentored in the aspects of creative production, social impact marketing, and distribution of their films.
The produced films shall be screened to the public on various platforms and will be complemented with impact campaigns that will lead audiences to take action on the climate issues presented. The climate stories produced shall be part of a repository of climate change-themed films, providing a unique perspective of climate change impacts through the lens of communities of a developing country that will resonate with global audiences.
Sherad is a graduate of AB Communications at Ateneo De Manila University. Even as an undergrad student, his films have premiered, screened, and won awards at numerous local & international Festivals. Before graduating, he made his second feature that not only won him International and local awards but gained notoriety because of controversial censorship. Sherad went on to make 3 more feature films, selected in hundreds of International Festivals and gaining further recognition through dozens of international awards.
He has served for 8 years as part of a selection committee for grants and projects of Cinema One Originals that produced and discovered prominent Filipino Filmmakers practicing today, merited him a presidential award, he has already mentored more than 250 feature Films all over Southeast Asia
He has also lectured and given workshops in various institutions all over the world.
Claudia is a human rights expert and media trainer with a background in film studies and an MA in human rights. For the last 18 years, Claudia has combined her two great passions – film and human rights – by running projects in Europe, Asia, and Africa and supporting aspiring filmmakers and activists to expose abuses and injustices in their films.
After years of experience in the human rights sector serving international organisations in Geneva, Brussels, and Vienna and the not-for-profit sector in the UK, in 2019 Claudia took the lead of Picture People, a UK educational charity using visual media and technology to advocate for change, where she manages the organisational strategy and operations whilst she continues to facilitate training in the field.
Nick Danziger is one of the world’s most renowned photojournalists. Much of his life has been dedicated to documenting the social and political issues that define our times in best-selling books, and in award-winning documentaries and photography.
He has won numerous awards for his outstanding work, amongst them the Prix Italia for the best television documentary for his documentary film War, Lives & Videotape on Afghanistan and the World Press Photo 1st prize in the single portrait category. He has also been awarded an Honorary Fellowship awarded by the Royal Photographic Society, and the Royal Geographical Society’s Ness Award in recognition of raising public understanding of contemporary social, political, and environmental issues through documentary films and photography.
His work has been published internationally and is part of several museum collections and as an educator, he continues to advance the promotion of our common humanity.
Director
Jayneca Reyes is a visual storyteller, feminist, and human rights activist. She is particularly interested in highlighting peoples; stories related to women, youth empowerment, social movements, and human rights. She directed Twilight in the Morning (2023), about the violence experienced by Children at Risks and Children in Conflict with the Law, DocWomentary: Women Behind the Lens (2019) which explores why women are at the forefront of documentary filmmaking in the Philippines, and Bagong Silang (2016) which chronicles the process of transferring urban poor communities in the 1980s to the relocation site named Bagong Silang, represented a painful and miserable experience as people saw tracts of land dotted, not with houses, but toilets.
Producer
Angela Chaves is a film graduate student, researcher, curriculum developer, trainer, and educator with 15 years of work in the industry and the academe. Her industry career began with Ideal Minds, Corp. as production manager and segment producer for block timer shows “It’s a Guy Thing,” for ABS-CBN Studio 23, “Homecoming” for MTV Pilipinas, and “Go Negosyo” for Channel 9, and worked as a writer for ABS-CBN Foundation’s “Mathtinik”. She is currently serving as a University Researcher at the UP Film Institute and is presently engaged in projects and activities involving audiovisual archiving.
Director and Writer
Milo Alto Paz is a multi-awarded director, writer, and producer. His documentaries and short films Kakosa, Pitong Maria, Tamaraw Quest, Si Vina at Si Jane, Bangsamoro and Tortyur sa Ilalim ng Martial Law, were all recipients of the Gawad CCP para sa Alternatibong Pelikula at Video. He directed Star Cinema’s first digital film, “Taxi ni Pilo”, “Lugaw” for the omnibus film “Imahenasyon”, and co-directed “Boses”, a 2008 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival finalist. His full-length feature film, Retirada, is also one of the finalists for the 2022 edition of Cinemalaya.
He also worked as an executive producer and director for GMA 7’s Entertainment
Group and News & Public Affairs. He and his wife, Cynthia, regularly produce videos for NGOs and government agencies on important issues and advocacies in support of child protection, environmental conservation, human rights, and cultural heritage.
Producer
CYNTHIA CRUZ-PAZ has written romance novels and is currently a writer in various TV series. Her short film Boda de Oro won second prize at the 25th Gawad CCP para sa Alternatibong Pelikula at Video. Her first feature film, Retirada, is also one of the finalists for the 2022 edition of Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival.
She has produced video documentaries on important issues and advocacies such as child protection, environmental and cultural conservation, human rights, and values formation for NGOs, government agencies and private institutions.
Director
Angelica Noelle Y. Taruc is a graduate of the UP Film Institute. She is currently working as an Accounts Manager/Assistant Brand Manager at Bull.ish Launch Agency. In 2022, she worked on a documentary film, called Mad Red, where she talks about her personal struggles with menstruation. Her personal advocacies have been geared towards mental health awareness and reproductive health awareness, but sees that her interests are ever-evolving.
Producer and Writer
Raia Alexis T. Gallardo is a Landscape Architecture researcher and film enjoyer, at best. Aside from high school performance task videos, sponsored brand reels, and occasional production staff gigs, she has had little to no experience in filmmaking, but hopes to get the chance to tell the story of the people of Barangay Agojo, Capiz, with whom she worked closely with for her undergraduate thesis.
Director
Juan is a filmmaker whose skill spans the realm of cinematography and video editing. Some of his films, like Searching Siam (2014) and The Last Stick (2019), premiered in various film festivals locally and abroad. He acquired his diploma in Motion Picture Production from Asia Pacific Film Institute. His love for the oceans led him to discover underwater filmmaking, impact media, and marine conservation. He is a certified dive professional and is currently working on a documentary film about the sharks of Sulu Sea.
Director
Jerome Dulin is a culture and film advocate from the Ibanag and Apayao ethnic groups in the Northern Philippines. An alumnus from the University of the Philippines Los Baños finishing his studies in Agriculture major in Agricultural Systems. He is the Founder and Managing Director of North Luzon Cinema Guild, Inc. since 2015.
Recently, he has been awarded and recognized as Creative Pioneer by Moleskine Foundation in Milan, Italy in 2023 for his initiative for the film education programs and advocating storytelling through cinema for change.
Producer
He is a graduate of Development Communication in the University of the Philippines Los Baños and is currently the External Affair Officer of the Guild and Program Director for program implementation and film distribution. Currently- the Festival Coordinator of the North Luzon Film Festival, Kultura Film Festival and one of the Secretariats for Regional Filmmakers Network. He is currently a Associate Professor at the Philippine Christian University under the Communications Program of the College of Arts, Sciences and Social Works
Director
John Lester Rimorin is a Malikhaing Pagsulat sa Filipino student at the University of the Philippines, Diliman. He is making waves in the short film industry with a unique storytelling style that captures the essence of diverse narratives. His directorial achievements include notable screenings of international selections at festivals like Italy, Portugal, India, and China, among others, showcasing a keen ability to connect with audiences on a global scale. Through his creative vision and unwavering passion, Lester aspires to create enduring cinematic experiences that inspire and entertain children and youth, encouraging them to dream big.
Producer
Joshua Gerona is studying at the University of the Philippines, Diliman. He is a freelance film screenwriter-producer, seamlessly integrating his background as a writer-journalist into cinema. Hailing from the Philippines, his commitment to crafting engaging narratives for children and youth is evident in his impactful productions. With a unique storytelling approach, Joshua’s work has gained recognition at local and international film festivals, highlighting his ability to resonate with diverse audiences. As a writer and producer, Joshua is carving a niche in the film industry, bringing imaginative tales to life and leaving a lasting impression on the global cinematic landscape.
Co-Producer
Joshua de Vera is a Broadcast Communication Student at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. He is the current president of Film Aficionados Circle (FilAC). He is passionate about queer and coming-of-age narratives and has already worked in multiple short films under FilAC and SBSG Pictures as a Producer/Director. He is the founder of SBSG Pictures, a small queer production team that aims to produce films that will both relate to and satisfy the well-needed representation of various stories
Director and Writer
Hans Rivera is a film collaborator and multidisciplinary artist from the Philippines. He produced experimental short films that screened in both local and international festivals. He is a fellow of Cinemalaya’s Intensive Scriptwriting Workshop under Ricky Lee and the SGIFF Southeast Asian Film Lab 2022. Together with his friends, he nurtured Pothos Collective—a colorful group of storytellers exploring emancipative and novel approaches to filmmaking cultivated by the community’s lived experiences and struggles. His artistic endeavors center on sensory approaches to spaces and the environment, and he aims to create art cultivated by compassion.
Producer
Mary Baligod is a film collaborator and story producer from the Philippines. She is a graduate of European Studies with a minor in Development Studies at De La Salle University. She co-produced Day of the Everlasting Sun, a short film project by Hans Rivera. Her current areas of focus in her line of work are heirloom ingredients and gastronomical cultures in the Philippines.
Director and Writer
Joseph Abello, a Filipino writer and director, holds a Cum Laude degree in Advertising Arts from the University of Santo Tomas. Under the mentorship of prominent Filipino filmmakers, Joseph directed his first film, ‘What Home Feels Like’ (2017), at the age of 25. His subsequent work, ‘Double Twisting Double Back’ (2018), was featured at the CinemaOne Originals Film Festival. Alongside filmmaking, Joseph serves as a consultant for NGOs, CSOs, and government agencies, contributing his creative expertise to causes like Save The Children Philippines and the Commission on Human Rights.
Director
JP Corton is an emerging director who ventured into filmmaking in 2018. He won Best Screenplay and the CHED Chairman’s Choice Award for his short film “Higayon (2022)” at FDCP’s CineIskool Film Festival. He’s currently employed as a Science Research Specialist in Davao City. But in his free time, JP dedicates his leisure moments to crafting narratives imbued with childlike innocence.
His tales offer captivating insights into the imaginative realm of young adolescents within his hometown. Recently, he won the Special Jury Prize Award for his film “Nalumos Akong Papa sa Sabaw” during the Sine Kabataan Film Festival 2023.
Producer
Jaime Morados is a director and producer based in Binan City whose works have been selected and awarded in local and international film festivals. He won the Jury Prize at the Binisaya Film Festival for his film PROTACIO AND THE BUM (2021), Best Picture in Montañosa Film Festival and was mentioned in CNN Philippines’ Best Filipino Films of 2022 for his film AGA-HIW, THE DREAMER (2022). He’s known for his film ANG PAGLILIGTAS SA DALAGANG BUKID (Saving the Country Maiden, 2022) which was part of the QCinema International Film Festival’s grantees in 2022. In his films, he playfully mixes fantasy, comedy, and drama, with his love for Philippine history and culture.
Writer
Linus Masandag is an aspiring filmmaker, scriptwriter, regional cinema advocate, and consumer of various kinds of media, including books, music, video games, television, and movies. He is a film critic, and during his college years, he actively participated in his university’s media publication and writing organizations. Meanwhile, he also crafts short stories and films and assists other aspiring filmmakers with their projects from time to time.
Currently, Linus is a media production assistant in one of the offices at his alma mater and is also one of the staff writers at Sinegang.ph, a local online publication dedicated to film and TV reviews. When it comes to storytelling, he is interested in writing stories that defies genre boundaries while having socially relevant themes.
Director and Writer
Bradley Jason Pantajo is a young regional Filmmaker and Theatre artist from the Philippines. He uses filmmaking as a way of understanding the thing that he encounters. Trying to capture the complexities of human nature, and interested in exploring the absurdities of life.
Producer
Carlo Enciso Catu is a film director, script writer, festival director, actor and a producer. He is the founder and CEO of YATU Film Productions which has its focus on helping more young regional filmmakers from the Philippines capture and tell their stories to the world. He directed WAITING FOR SUNSET which won the Best Film award at the 14th Cinemalaya Film Festival; and ARI: MY LIFE WITH A KING which was named as one of the 50 Best Filipino Films of the 21st Century. In his free time, Carlo loves to play with his fur baby, Peachy. A high-spirited dachshund dog.
Director and Writer
EARVIC NOAY (b. March 30, 2002 in Manila, Philippines) is currently finishing up his bachelor’s degree in Film at the University of the Philippines Film Institute. His film trajectory is a compelling blend of social commentary and socio-political justice which can be seen through his films Miss Informed (2021), Super Alaya: Ang Bagong Tagapagtanggol (2023), and May Pulis Sa Ilalim Ng Tulay (in development). He produces and directs animation films including Dear Frontliners (2021), Yuan Amandy’s i am but a small boy (2022), and Positively Negative (in development). He is currently the Creative Marketing Manager of UP Cinema, a student film organization. He is a lacto-ovo vegetarian, and outside film production, he likes playing tennis, and going to the beach.
Producer
Yuan Amandy, a Rizal-based filmmaker taking Bachelor of Arts in Communication (Digital Cinema Track) at Far Eastern University – Manila. He joined advocacy-based local film competitions such as Philippine Commission on Women’s CineJuana Digital Shorts Competition 2019 and the Climate Change Commission’s Klima Film Lab 2020. As a recipient of Gerry Roxas Leadership Award 2020, his films were driven with advocacies in the topics of gender, human rights, and equality that aimed to break social boundaries and promote safe space to the community. He is fascinated with Filipino mythologies and folktales.
Director
Andre Jacques Fallaria is a fresh BS Biology graduate from the University of the Philippines Diliman. He is currently the National Convenor of Youth Strike for Climate Philippines, one of the pioneering youth-led climate action movements in the country. He is also a filmmaker behind several short films on family and climate such as Tinay (2019) which became a finalist in the 3rd Sine Kabataan under the Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino in 2019. He is also the writer and co-director behind Ang Kuwento ng Dalawang Mundo (2021), which became a finalist in the Sine Bulacan Film Festival in March 2021..
Producer
Pamela Lira is a registered geologist from UP Diliman where she is recognized as the Gawad Tsanselor sa Natatanging Mag-aaral 2022. In her ten years of writing, she has won countless awards both international and local for her fiction and non-fiction pieces such as the Feature Writing Category in both the National Schools Press Conference (2018) National Media Conference (2019), and Magna Charta Observatory essay competitions in Europe. In 2021, she bagged the 3rd place in the nationwide Normal Awards, where the prize is the ongoing publication of her children’s story book on LGBTQ+ and women rights. Currently, she is the Storytelling Lead of the Youth Strike 4 Climate Philippines and part of the Climate Justice Committee of the Habi Youth Network.
Producer
JANYX REGALO is a multi-disciplined Creative whose explores intersections between film, feminism and food security. After clinching her first screenplay award during the 2019 Metro Manila Film Festival for the film WRITE ABOUT LOVE, Janyx has expanded her repertoire into digital content production, social media marketing, and recently, digital PR management.
In 2020, she co-founded Pulô Productions (formerly Kayumanggi Kolektib), an independent, transnational visual storytelling collective dedicated to advancing narratives centered on social issues – inspiring her to explore innovative filmmaking approaches, as she emerges as a Producer and Cultural Worker.
Currently based in Los Baños, Laguna, Janyx Regalo savors leisurely long walks against the picturesque backdrop of Mt. Makiling.
Director and Writer
Ronnie Ramos is a Filipino filmmaker from Pangasinan and currently a third-year film student at the UP Film Institute where he developed a deep passion for provocative regional films that challenge audiences and spark meaningful dialogue. At the same time, he is currently serving as the Director of Public Relations of UP Cinema, a non-profit university-wide film organization at University of the Philippines, Diliman.
For him, promoting intercultural understanding through creative media is not just a career goal, but a personal mission. He is committed to using cinematic storytelling to create new regional content that celebrates the rich cultural heritage of the Philippines, while also bringing attention to pressing social issues that affect his community and beyond.
Producer
Miko Biong is a student filmmaker from the University of the Philippines – Diliman. He is currently serving as the Vice President for Education and Research of UP Cineastes’ Studio, the country’s first and premier student film organization.
As a filmmaker, he holds the view that films should go beyond mere entertainment, and must carry the weight of serving as an enlightening medium for a deeper understanding of society. He believes that cinema should strive to enhance the audience’s political consciousness and societal commitment.
Director
Sheryl Rose M. Andes is a development worker, filmmaker, and educator. She spent a decade in NGO work before embracing filmmaking. Her documentaries received recognitions from Sineng Pambansa, Gawad CCP para sa Alternatibong Pelikula at Video, Ethnocineca in Vienna, DocEdge Kolkata, and recently in KKIFF Sabah Pitching and Purin Pictures. By day, she teaches film production, documentary, regional cinema, gender, and research to college students.
Her first full-length documentary, Maria is the first documentary in the Main Competition Full-Length Films’ section in the 19 years history of Cinemalaya.
Producer
Bryan Kristoffer J. Brazil has been a film director and TV producer in the Philippines for more than a decade. He produced short documentaries and received recognitions from Gawad CCP para sa Pelikula and Video–Philippine Independent Film and Video Festival, New York Festivals, One World Award, Japan Prize International and International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival in Malaysia. His first documentary film, My Little Dancing Shoes was acquired through co-production by NHK BS1, NHK World Japan, Inside Lens (VOD) and EBS Korea Channel1 . It won the Colors of Asia award at Tokyo Docs 2017 and World Vision award at EBS International Documentary Festival 2019-South Korea. He also participated in Tokyo Docs- International Documentary Forum, Australia International Documentary Conference and If/Then by In Docs and Tribeca Film Institute and Docs By The Sea.
While producing Andes’ Maria in Cinemalaya, he is also in the post-production phase of his second feature documentary about cockfighting in the Philippines, produced by GMA Public Affairs.
Director
PAUL STA. ANA is a published poet, an award- winning screenwriter, television and film director who graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University with a degree in Philosophy and a Dean’s Award for the Arts. He is also an alumnus of the Berlinale Talents, which is the talent development program of the Berlin International Film Festival. As a filmmaker, his art and praxis encompass a range of themes, including gender politics, the commodification of death, and ecology.
Producer
IANA BERNARDEZ is a young film producer who started her career making independent films mentored by sought-after line producer, Sarah Pagcaliwagan and globally recognized producer, Bianca Balbuena. Since then, she has gone on to produce with companies who do many local productions and international co-productions, Epicmedia and Daluyong Studios.
Ultimately, what has inspired Iana the most in her producing career is getting to work with young filmmakers, especially those on their debut or sophomore films. She finds magic in collaborating with these artists making their dreams come true.
Co-writer
BRYLLE TABORA is a screenwriter and poet based in Quezon City, Philippines. His screenplay “Sekyu” won second place in the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature (the equivalent of Pulitzer Prize in the Philippines). He has been writing for television since 2015.
Currently, he is finishing his MFA in Creative Writing at the De La Salle University- Manila where he is working on his very first collection of poems.
Writer & Director
Dustin Celestino is a filmmaker, composer, and educator. In 2023, his film “Ang Duyan ng Magiting” won 2 awards in the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival: the Special Jury Prize and the Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble Acting. In 2019, his film “Utopia” won the Special Jury Prize in the Cinema One Originals Film Festival.
Producer
Janel Gutierrez is a producer & editor born, raised, and based in Manila. Her first feature film, “Ang Duyan ng Magiting” won 2 awards in the 2023 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Fes5val: The Special Jury Prize and the Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble Acting.
Associate Producer
Karen Toyoshima is an actress, rescuer, animal welfare advocate and the founder of Be Kind To All Kinds Philippines. Karen has a Bachelor’s Degree in Performing Arts from Assump5on College Maka5. A_er devo5ng her life full-5me as an actress for film & tv, she embarked upon a career as a Project Manager & Producer for several Community Projects during the peak of the pandemic. Her early produc5on work on documentaries for non-government organiza5ons started in 2020. In 2022, she received the Orange Carpet award for Best Animal Welfare Advocate.
Sherad is a graduate of AB Communications at Ateneo De Manila University. Even as an undergrad student, his films have premiered, screened, and won awards at numerous local & international Festivals. Before graduating, he made his second feature that not only won him International and local awards but gained notoriety because of controversial censorship. Sherad went on to make 3 more feature films, selected in hundreds of International Festivals and gaining further recognition through dozens of international awards.
He has served for 8 years as part of a selection committee for grants and projects of Cinema One Originals that produced and discovered prominent Filipino Filmmakers practicing today, merited him a presidential award, he has already mentored more than 250 feature Films all over Southeast Asia
He has also lectured and given workshops in various institutions all over the world.
Jason del Rosario is a climate activist currently engaged as the Multimedia and Campaigns Staff for the Asian Peoples’ Movement and Development’s Climate Justice program. His work is focused on the amplification of the struggles of diverse peoples’ organizations and communities into a solidified campaign for Climate Justice.
He has been a fellow of the Academy of Political Management of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in 2017 and an alumnus of the Political Management Training program of SocDemAsia, a program for trans-national solidarity and action amongst young Asian political leaders.
While he mainly works in Climate-related arenas recently, he is in various fields of political work such as youth and students’ rights, human rights, labor, and energy justice. He likes to think he has free time and spends what he has of it with his partner and their three dogs and two cats.
John is an independent filmmaker, musician and writer. He co-runs Los Otros, a Manila-based space, film lab, and platform committed to the intersections of film and art, with a focus on process over product. He directed and produced five feature films, including Todo Todo Teros (Dragons & Tigers Award, Vancouver IFF 2006; NETPAC/FICRESCI awards, Singapore IFF 2006), Years When I was a Child Outside (Berlinale Forum Expanded 2008), and Lukas The Strange (Art of the Real,Film at Lincoln Center, 2013). He has made more than a dozen short films, including, We Still Have to Close Our Eyes (Wavelengths, Toronto IFF 2019). His work fictionalizes and reworks personal and found documentations of love, family relations, and memory in relation to current events, hearsays, myth, and folklore. He produced Shireen Seno’s Nervous Translation (NETPAC award, Tiger Competition, Rotterdam 2018), a project that was developed through Venice’s Biennale College Cinema, Bangkok Produire au Sud, IFP, and Cinemart. A special focus of his works was shown at the Viennale in 2013.
Baby Ruth Villarama is a documentary filmmaker involved in international co-production producing socially-relevant films on migration, independence and self-empowerment, children and climate justice.
She’s a co-founder of Voyage Film Studios that bridges Philippine-based stories for international broadcast and film festivals.
She earned her master’s degree in film business as a Chevening scholar in the UK, where she won the British Council Global Alumni Award for social impact in influencing conversations towards policy improvements through her films. She is the director behind the Sunday Beauty Queen, the first documentary that won Best Picture in the 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival and was instrumental in creating a dedicated Department for Migrant Workers in the country.
She’s also part of the executive board of the Director’s Guild of the Philippines, a co-founder of Filipino Documentary Society, which brought us Daang Dokyu, a celebration of 100 years of Philippine documentaries.
Jai works in the nexus of environment and development. She’s currently a climate change officer at the Asian Development Bank trying to find the queue for the chocolate crinkles and operationalizing the bank’s agenda on just transition, long-term greenhouse gas strategy development, and Paris Agreement alignment.
When she feels particularly industrious, she is also a lecturer and researcher at Ateneo de Manila University. She gets bored easily so she picked climate change as her idiomatic windmill to tilt at. You can lure her with food and cats.
Chuck Baclagon, is a climate justice advocate based in Quezon City, he has two decades of experience in environmental and social justice advocacy. He presently serves as the Regional Finance Campaigner for 350.org in Asia. Previously, he spent a decade strengthening Greenpeace Southeast Asia’s online campaigning capabilities. His primary focus within advocacy lies in leveraging digital tools for campaigns and organizational endeavors, striving to instigate tangible social change.
Maya Quirino is the advocacy coordinator of the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC), which is the Philippines chapter of Friends of the Earth International. LRC provides free legal services to indigenous peoples (IPs), and crafts and advocates for policies on environmental conservation and the rights of IPs and rural communities. Maya is concurrently the national coordinator of the SOS Yamang Bayan Network, a group pushing for the overhaul of the mining industry. Maya is also a policy adviser at the Institute for Social Entrepreneurship in Southeast Asia (ISEA).
Armi Rae Cacanindin is one of the most active producers doing international co-productions in the country. She focuses on a select number of high-quality film projects both fiction and documentaries, from filmmakers with distinct voices. Her films have premiered in top-tier film festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Locarno, Toronto, Sundance, Shanghai, Busan among others.
Her last three productions and co-productions involving Asia are the Venice FIPRESCI winner and Indonesia’s entry to the Oscars, Autobiography, debut feature of Makbul Mubarak, which won the Best Asian Film and Best Director Award in QCinema last year. Autobiography is a co-production among Indonesia, France, Germany, Poland, Singapore, Qatar and the Philippines. Another film, Thai youth political dramedy, Arnold is a Model Student by Sorayos Prapapan, is a co-production among Thailand, Singapore, France, Netherlands, and Philippines. Last is the critically-acclaimed epic first feature of Carlo Francisco Manatad, Kun Maupay Man It Panahon, (Whether the Weather is Fine) that won the Youth Jury Award in Locarno 2021 and is a co-production among Philippines, France, Germany, Singapore, Indonesia and Qatar.
The last documentary she produced is the multi-awarded creative documentary on the drug war, Aswang, by Alyx Arumpac, that made history by being the first documentary that got both the Best Documenatry and Best Picture Award at FAMAS 2020 and Gawad Urian 2021, and was eligible for the Oscars in 2021. It is a Philippine, France, Norway, Germany, Qatar co-production.
Currently she is in post -production for The Garden of Earthly Delights, a Dutch – Philippine – Belgian feature shot entirely in the Philippines and is in pre-production for another Indonesian co-production entitled, Tale of the Land.
Arjay “Jing” Barrios hails from Romblon and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree of Political Science in the Romblon State University. Jing was a Journalism and Leadership awardee and a staunch advocate of the environment and indigenous peoples’ rights for the past five years.
He is a member of Dakila Artists Collective and currently taking up his 5th year of law in the Arellano University School of Law in Pasay. He is currently the advocacy officer for paralegal and local communities engagement of the Living Laudato Si’ Philippines, a catholic organization focusing on the campaign related to climate justice.
Matikas Santos was in the journalism industry for 10 years before moving to the environmental advocacy Non-profit WWF-Philippines. He started as an INQUIRER.net reporter in 2011 and later moved to Philstar.com in 2017 as an editor and social media manager. He has reported on major issues in the country including the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda, Janet Napoles pork barrel scam scandal, and the Philippines’ arbitration case against China over the West Philippine Sea. He is currently the Senior Communications Officer of WWF-Philippines where he handles the communications of projects on climate change and habitat and biodiversity conservation.
Leni is the Co-founder and Secretary General of DAKILA and concurrently, the Executive Director of its Active Vista Center. She currently serves as part of the Global Governance Circle of the Innovation for Change (I4C), an international network of organizations and advocates working to protect civic spaces and overcome restrictions to basic freedoms. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Albay Arts Foundation (AAF) and the Women Working for Women Philippines (WWW.Ph).
She has been a fellow of the Equitas Human Rights Training Program in Montreal, the Summer School of Cinema Human Rights Advocacy in Venice, the Release Southeast Asia Fellowship on Drug Reform Policy in London, and the FNF International Academy for Leadership in Germany. Recently, she was a visiting fellow at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation’s Democracy and Freedom Conference in Brussels. In 2018, she was nominated for Most Distinguished Human Rights Defender at the Ignite Awards of Amnesty International.
Her activism journey started at the University of the Philippines Manila where she took up Organizational Communication and became a student leader of the National Federation of Student Councils. Leni is always in the middle of the hullaballoo in marrying art and activism and in innovating civic engagement in social movement building. When she finds time, she spoils her cat, Zvezky.
Alex is the Program Director for Outreach and Partnerships of Active Vista. As an independent film producer, her body of work has been screened and awarded in international film festivals such as the Locarno Film Festival, Fantasporto Film Festival, and the ASEAN International Film Festival & Awards. She has trained as a creative producer for both fiction and documentary in notable training labs such as Asiadocs, Docs by the Sea, Produire Au Sud, Full Circle Lab, and at the ASEAN-ROK: Film Leaders Incubator where she became the recipient of the Busan Bank Scholarship.
Strengthening her work in intersecting filmmaking and human rights, she took part at the 2019 Summer School of Cinema and Human Rights in Venice and participated as a Jury for the Dutch Movies Matter program of the Movies that Matter Film Festival in 2022. Recently, she also became a member of the Global Impact Producers Alliance as she delves deeper into impact film production and distribution.
In 2021, Alex took over as the Festival Director of the Active Vista International Human Rights Festival.
Dodo Dayao is the writer and director of Violator (2014), If You Leave (2016), Best Before; (2017), Nephilim (2017), Destroy Everything You Touch (2020) and Midnight In A Perfect World (2021). He lives in Quezon City and is currently working on his next film, his first book of nonfiction and his first book of fiction.
Kristoffer Brugada is an independent documentary filmmaker, screenwriter, and professional lecturer. As a documentary director and producer, Kristoffer has over a decade of experience in Philippine local media and has led several TV documentary productions that have won awards from local and international award-giving bodies such as the George Foster Peabody Award, the New York Festivals, and Japan Prize. A Film graduate of the University of the Philippines-Diliman, Kristoffer is currently a scholar at the Tisch School for Film and Television at Tel Aviv University pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Documentary Cinema. His first feature documentary, An Elegy to Forgetting, had its World Premiere at the 2020 Shanghai International Film Festival, while his short documentary film Bullet-Laced Dreams, recently won the UNICEF Prize at the 2021 Japan Prize.
Kristine Kintana has worked in almost all aspects of cinema since she started in 2006.
She has collaborated with some of the best Filipino filmmakers like Monster Jimenez, Moira Lang, Ramona Diaz, Martika Escobar, Sherad Sanchez, Raya Martin, Roxlee, Lav Diaz, and Khavn, as costume designer, actress, translator, production manager, and line producer.
Films that she has been part of have won prizes in Venice International Film Festival, Berlinale International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, and the Academy Awards.
She is one of the founding members of the Active Vista Human Rights Festival, which aims to mainstream Human Rights, and also sits on the Board of Directors of the Active Vista Center, where she is corporate secretary. She is also part of the Board of Directors of the QC Film Foundation, which supports the local film industry via labs, grants, and institutional fundings.
Since 2014, she has been part of the selection committee of QCinema International Film Festival for short, feature, and documentary film grants, selecting and supporting some of the best films that have come out of Philippine Cinema in recent history.
She is also part of Emerging Producers 2024, the Industry Program of Ji.hlava International Documentary Festival, which promotes the up and coming producers from Europe and Asia, with sessions in Jihlava, Czech Republic, and Berlin, Germany.
Cha Escala is a documentary film producer, director, and editor. One of her recent films is the full-length documentary “Remnants of a Revolution,” which garnered support from various production grants and premiered at the Sheffield Doc/Fest in 2020.
In her documentary “Bullet-laced Dreams,” Cha sheds light on the challenges faced by
indigenous children displaced by armed conflicts in their region. The film’s poignant narrative earned it the Unicef Prize at the Japan Prize 2021.
Another remarkable work in Cha’s portfolio is the film “Nick and Chai” (2014). This film
competed in international festivals such as IDFA and Busan and won the Audience Choice at New Caledonia, Best Film at QCinema and the Young Critics Circle in 2014.
Jade Castro is a Filipino film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for writing and directing Endo (2007) which won the 2007 Cinemalaya Special Jury Prize and the 2008 Gawad Urian for Best Screenplay. Zombadings 1: Patayin sa Shokot si Remington (2011), and LSS (2019). He also directed Juana Change The Movie, written by Rody Vera, screened just before the 2013 Philippine National Elections.
Castro was co-producer of the indie film Sarong Banggi, and was part of the creative team behind Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros.
Pam Miras (b.1978) is a director and screenwriter for film and television. She graduated from the University of the Philippines in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in Film & Audiovisual Communication where her thesis film Reyna ng Kadiliman (1999), was awarded Best Thesis and went on to win a Gawad Urian award for best short film in 2000. Her feature debut, Pascalina (2012), won Best Picture at the 2012 Cinema One Originals film festival. Her short films have won several local awards and have screened and competed in international festivals. She is based in Manila and is currently employed as a director for local TV dramas.
Victor Villanueva is a filmmaker who comes from cebu, known for his comedies like Patay na si Hesus, Kusina Kings, kidnap for romance, i am not big bird, to name a few. Occasionally dabbles on branded content and commercials. He does all this to pay for his video games.
Che Tagyamon is a director, editor, and animator from Manila, Philippines.
Her previous works often address the subjects of diaspora, class, and memory in relation to women’s psyche. Her hybrid short film “Judy Free” was developed at Berlinale Talents Short Form Station in 2019 and was among the grantees of the first edition of Southeast Asian Short Film Grant. She is an alumna of Busan Asian Film Academy, SGIFF SEALab, and Asean ROK’s FLY Film Lab among others.
She recently won the Jury Prize for her animated short film, “tumatawa, umiiyak”
Film producer Gale Osorio is a Busan Asian Film School, Berlinale Talents, and TFL ScriptLab Story Editor alumni. She produced ISKALAWAGS 2013, LILY 2016, and A SHORT HISTORY OF A FEW BAD THINGS 2018. Her short films BABYLON 2017 and IT’S RAINING FROGS OUTSIDE 2021 both had their international premieres at the Berlinale International Film Festival shorts competition. She is currently producing AFA Alumni Zurich Chan’s second film CANGREJOS (SEAFIC Lab 2019, HAFF 2020) and Demie Dangla’s documentary Magnetic Letters (Berlinale Docs Station 2023, DMZ Development Grant, Purin Pictures Grant 2022). Recent project in development PLEASE BEAR WITH ME directed by Gabriela Serrano has won awards at SGIFF Southeast Asian Film Lab 2022, BIFAN It Project Market 2023, and FNC Nouveau Marche 2023. In between producing films, she helps run the annual Binisaya Film Festival in Cebu City.
Dwein, first and foremost, is a mother, who has a love- hate relationship with writing and still dreams of becoming a theater actress. Currently, Baltazar writes and directs for mini-series and movies. Her debut film, “Mamay Umeng” (2012) took home the Best Picture prize at the 14th Jeonju International Film Festival held in South Korea. Baltazar’s sophomore feature, “Gusto Kita With All My Hypothalamus” is set to have its international premiere at Busan International Film Festival this October 2018. She recently directed the film “Third World Romance.”
Demie Dangla is a film producer and director based in Manila. She works on documentary, experimental and long-term multimedia projects.
She previously worked as a researcher and segment producer for an award-winning television documentary show “Mukha” on ABS-CBN News Channel, and as associate producer and assistant production manager for an independent production company. For more than five years, she also worked with collective media groups documenting marginalized and grassroots sectors and screening their films in communities. In 2017, she was a recipient of the National Geographic Young Explorer Grant.
Currently, she works as the impact producer for Tech Tales Youth Film Collection, and as an engagement coordinator for EngageMedia.
Filipino filmmaker Carl Chavez is a freelance filmmaker and content marketer. His breakthrough short film Sorry for the Inconvenience (2017) is a coming-of-age story set in the oppressive patriarchy of downtown Manila. The film has been recognized by the country′s most prestigious award-giving bodies, including the FAMAS and URIAN, and has been screened at film festivals like Cinemalaya, Cinema One Originals and the Shanghai Queer Film Festival.
He is one of the founders of Lockdown Cinema Club which gave financial aid to more than 1,500 below the line film workers during the onset of the pandemic.
Marlon Rivera is currently the President of the Board of Directors of the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA).
As a pillar in the advertising industry, he is the former President and Chief Creative Officer of Publicis Manila. Marlon is also known as the film director of blockbuster works including “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank series”.
He completed a degree course in Communication Studies at the Ateneo de Manila University in 1987 and taught in the Visual Communication program of the University of the Philippines’ College of Fine Arts for seven years.
