Xeph Suarez

Hondo

Mara is scared of water. She has a rare condition that keeps her from touching any forms of liquid. As a single mother, her only pearl is her frisky son Elim, who was later on diagnosed with a life threathening disease. The boy’s only request is to learn how to swim.

I Am Malik

Toto, 8, and Jr, 10, are victims of a recent armed conflict in their city. While playing among the war ruins, they discuss and re-enact their individual war experiences. This story is set in Zamboanga City after the standoff in 2013 between the forces of the Republic of the Philippines and a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front led by Habier Malik.

Animal Lovers

A pregnant woman, suspicious of her husband’s romantic relationship with his carabao, schemes to banish her beastly rival and reclaim her title as the fairest creature of the land.

Displaced

A beguiling series of psychedelic random footage encapsulates pieces of memories of children survivors during the Marawi siege. They revisit their stories of survival in the onset of the war. These little dreamers still hope that one day, they will return in their normal and playful lives and revive the place they once called home.

Astri and Tambulah

Astri is a 16-year old transwoman in a relationship with 17-year old Tambulah. Although it’s an unusual sight at the community where they live, nobody bothers them. Subsisting on the coins people throw at them when they perform their traditional dance at the sea. Everything is perfect except that Sama Bajao traditions and a pact made long ago require Astri to marry a woman she hardly knows