Dagupan City, Philippines — Lemongrass Girl follows a young production assistant tasked to plant lemongrass as part of Thai superstition to ward off the rain. In complying with the demands of the ritual, she begins to crumble as the days go on. Since its world premiere at the Ammodo Tiger Short Competition at the 50th …
Dagupan City, Philippines — “Has anyone seen Piano?” Lemongrass Girl follows the story of a young production assistant named Piano who is assigned to plant lemongrass daily to prevent rain from disrupting their filming process. This ritual, reserved for virgins, is a common practice in Thailand, especially on film sets. While she takes on this …
Lemongrass Girl (2021) and Ritualistic Restrictions Read More »
In its unabashed sweetness and emotional honesty, The Boy Foretold by the Stars is a clear message to queer audiences — fate or not, you deserve to be chosen. I was 17 when I came out to someone. It was to my then-boyfriend. We were at one of the benches in Kostka extension in Ateneo de Manila …
Note: There are spoilers in this essay about Little Women (2019). In Greta Gerwig’s sophomore feature Little Women (2019), four sisters forge their own way during the American Civil War in the hopes of reasserting their agency and womanhood in a perilous time. It is an overwhelmingly warm love letter to sisterhood and family, but also a …
NOTE: This article has spoilers. As soon as the Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons stopped playing, I sank into my chair, with tears in my eyes, and knew I had seen it – the kind of film that you will be lucky enough to witness and allow into your life. It reminded me of the time I …
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019): Love, Art, and Continued Emancipation Read More »
Note: This essay has spoilers. We open on Balete Drive. If you’ve ever watched Okatokat or Magandang Gabi, Bayan in your childhood, or read at least one entry of Pinoy Ghost Stories, you’ll know this place is the setting of many hauntings. Then, a car parks. In it, two characters sit, waiting, until it’s quiet enough to have sex (‘car fun’). In …
Sila-Sila (2019): Tackling the Gray in Queer Relationships Read More »
“Well-behaved women seldom make history.” Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History Have you ever wondered what would happen if men weren’t in the picture? In the absurdity of this absence, what are we left with? In this freedom, what can women discover about themselves and the world around them? Carlo Francisco Manatad‘s three short …
Carlo Manatad’s Filmography: What a Girl Wants, What a Girl Needs Read More »
Is it lifting off or landing? The short film ‘Plano (2004) opens with the familiar sight and sound of an airplane overhead – untouchable in a cloudless sky towards a clear yet unknown destination. Then we cut to: a paper plane, now touching the dirt and gravel, is dragged aimlessly by a little girl. She is dressed …
‘Plano (2004) and Salingpusa (2006): A Little Girl’s Plight Read More »
