By Brontë H. Lacsamana, Reporter
THE short films in Cinemalaya this year, particularly in the Shorts A group, shed light on seemingly small stories that may at first glance seem common and unimportant.
With singular voices that cut through the noise of the world today, all five give life to overlooked struggles. There’s the rebellious queerness of students in an all-boys Catholic school, the misery of an office worker who finds solace in the lottery, the absurd grief process of a young man taking care of his grandmother, the fierce pride of a bizarre chicken-dance group, and the quiet agony of a woman after a sexual assault.
Besides being distinctly Filipino, these five films challenge us to question the simple realities that many people face.
PLEASE KEEP THIS COPY
This set of shorts opens with a film directed by Miguel Lorenzo Peralta, who bares his soul in a barrage of personal archival materials connecting his all-boys Catholic high school experience with the nation’s collective memory.
In just five minutes, he depicts the rowdy dynamic of teenagers without ever showing any of their faces. All we see are scans of old documents, class schedules, test papers, doodles upon doodles, and objects related to the Catholic school experience. All we hear are the boys’ dirty jokes, boisterous laughter, playful singing, and youthful queerness among friends, interspersed with ominous loud noises.
The political milieu circa 2016, when Mr. Peralta was in high school, informs the culture of obedience, violence, and toxic masculinity that restricts them — all of which this film manages to show, not tell. It’s a testament to how the echoes of normalized repression, religious trauma, and abuse of power reverberate in classrooms, and how a group of queer boys navigates the chaos.
Please Keep This Copy is the shortest film of the set, but it makes full use of its experimental documentary format to great effect.
ASCENSION FROM THE OFFICE CUBICLE
This film by Hannah Silvestre is centered on Thelma, a call center agent, and her obsession with the host of the local lottery draw.
It’s a satire of the exploited Filipino working class’ dependence on luck, gambling to feed one’s high hopes. Thelma’s delusional fantasies and parasocial relationship with the lottery host reflect the average person’s urge to escape the bleak humdrum of reality.
The only downside to Ascension is that it rehashes campy depictions of the exploited worker as seen in similar short films before (Sonny Calvento’s Excuse Me, Miss, Miss, Miss and Primetime Mother come to mind). While it brings nothing really new to the table, it is otherwise well-executed, with soft wit and entertaining vibrancy.
What it also does surprisingly well despite the satirical tone is give life to Thelma’s little world in the office cubicle, painting the gloom, doom, and dark humor with a bit of empathy.
HASANG
An absurdist yet heartfelt short is Daniel de la Cruz’s Hasang, which takes us through the waves of grief and filial love that a young man, Boni, feels for his grandmother. The catch is that death in their rural area means the gradual transformation into an animal of choice — hers being the tilapia.
As Boni cares for her and makes her comfortable before she dies, the film neatly ties together the threads of loss and letting go in lovely, absurdist fashion. The pair wear goggles and engage in fish speak (“glug glug glug”) to prepare for her passing.
The final step of the journey, to allow her to breathe freely (supposedly underwater in the river), is foiled due to drastic changes in the natural environment. It’s a clever little tale that might possibly be the beating heart of this set of shorts.
RADIKALS
Those in-the-know when it comes to the local indie scene would be aware that Arvin Belarmino’s Radikals actually debuted in Cannes last year and enjoyed a warm reception there. Here, its bizarre take on a Philippine tradition leaves a strong impact as well, though the audience is likely not as easily impressed as that in Cannes.
This film boasts strong visuals and music and has a fascinating practice at its center — the bakte dance of Cavite — but the cultural relevance of the piece is overshadowed by the urge to make the events absurd. It is fun, amusing, and weird when the cockfighting and dancing group we follow devolve into name-calling, physical fights, and ritualistic behavior, but it only makes you question what the point of it all is.
If anything, the strange version of this Cavite group presented to us pushes us to want to find out more. It may very well be a representation of a culture of violence that muddies our traditions, but style takes too much precedence over substance for that message to come through.
THE NEXT 24 HOURS
Closing the lineup is Carl Joseph Papa’s rotoscope animated short, highly anticipated following his acclaimed full-length Iti Mapukpukaw which was shortlisted for the Oscars the other year.
The Next 24 Hours is just as important despite being a short film. It was put together in the same style, seamlessly, in a more concise manner. We follow Sheila and what she does in the 24 hours after she is sexually assaulted by her date. Her restlessness is conveyed through the tumultuous textures of the rotoscope-style animation, as she navigates the aftermath of a traumatic experience.
The encounter itself is never shown, only her sullen persistence to push forward and try to reckon with the consequences, going to work and then leaving early to visit an OB-GYN. The animated visuals render the details and edges a bit fuzzy, allowing us to put ourselves in her shoes. It truly captures how frightening it is to seek out safe spaces, battling a lot of anxiety and fear along the way.
Like the other short films, it gives voice to a situation that not many would give a second thought to unless they’re challenged to reflect on it. In each work, the filmmakers’ perspectives give unique insights into the chaos of Philippine society, zeroing in on ways of seeing that really shine in the short film format.
Cinemalaya 2025 Shorts A is screening at Shangri-La, Gateway, and Ayala Malls (Manila Bay, Market! Market!, Circuit, and UP Town Center) until Oct. 12.