Movies by Pen Medina
They Call Me Joy
When asked for her real name, the feisty woman in a rural whorehouse would quip, "Ligaya. It means joy. And that's what I sell." Yet the small-town prostitute is not resigned that she would be in the flesh trade forever. She still harbors the dream of getting out of the job someday. She saves money and fancies that someone would come and marry her as if she were clean and never been a whore. That becomes almost a reality when a hardworking farmer enters her life. Under some problematic circumstances, her chances get blown away-but not exactl...
10000 Hours
Senator Gabriel Alcaraz is preparing to deliver a privilege speech alleging corruption in the highest levels of government. On his way to the Senate, he gets wind of a plot against him. The police seek to arrest him for his part in an operation decades ago. Suspecting that the administration isn’t willing to give him a fair trial, Alcaraz goes into hiding abroad, hoping to find a way to clear his name and eventually return to his family. Back home, an old colleague is put in charge of finding him, and his family suffers under the pressure of...
Mang Kepweng Returns
A remake of a funny quack doctor who was originally portrayed by the late comedian Chiquito in 1979. Its a story of the quack doctor's son and his adventures with the magical bandana.
In the Navel of the Sea
In a remote fishing island in the 50's, Pepito grows up learning the trade of his mother, Rosa, the only midwife capable of delivering the newborn babies of their community. At first, the young son doesn't mind the unusual arrangement, but as he grows older, he begins to resist the role traditionally meant only for women. In time, Pepito's coming of age intersects with the lives of the other islanders, whose beliefs and struggles become critical impetus to his maturity.
Fight for Us
Set during the post-Marcos regime in a remote village of Dolores, chronicles the life of Jimmy Cordero, a political prisoner who have just been freed from prison after the decline of the Marcos dictatorship. From his revolutionary past, he got himself into human rights activism following his prison release. He and his wife’s brother once conducted a fact-finding mission to Dolores only to find out the terror brought about to its residents by the Orapronobis, a government backed anti-communist paramilitary troop deployed in the town of Dolores.
Scorpio Nights
In a crowded, multi-appartment house, a young student peeps on his neighbours making love and subsequently develops a steamy affair with the neighbour's wife. The affair slowly becomes an obsession and spins out of control.
Layang Bilanggo
An aging assassin hides in a facility for abandoned senior citizens to protect a daughter he left years ago.
Ang Pangarap Kong Holdap
A bumbling crew of friends aspires to be known as the town's best thieves but plotting their first big heist seems more difficult than pulling it off.
Sakay
Sakay is a 1993 Filipino historical drama film directed by Raymond Red. The film stars Julio Diaz, Tetchie Agbayani, and Leopoldo Salcedo. The film covers the life of Filipino patriot and hero Macario Sakay, who was declared an outlaw and a criminal for continuing hostilities against the United States after the "official" end of the Philippine Insurrection.
Naglalayag
After a chance decision sends her home in a taxicab, Dorinda (Nora Aunor), a widowed judge, strikes up a friendship with the young and charming driver, Noah (Yul Servo), who's overcome with respect for her profession. But soon enough, their fondness for each other results in love -- and an unexpected surprise: At 47 years old, Dorinda becomes pregnant. Will her scandalous romance ruin her future?
Virgin Forest
A story set in the Philippine Republic in the 1900s where a lass, a Spanish mestizo, and a fisherman are caught up by Macabebe soldiers who are trying to capture Emilio Aguinaldo.
Elena's Redemption
The film is based on the true story of a maid who was either seduced or raped and made pregnant by her Chinese employer; the baby was either killed by the employer's wife or by her own hand, depending on who you talk to.
Dead Sure
In the daytime, Karen is an insurance saleswoman in Manila, but in the evening she works as an escort in a club.
The Blood Trail
Laya is a young professional photographer who has drifted away from her family. Her father has fallen ill, but she hasn’t once come to visit him at the hospital. Her mother, who left their family when Laya was a child, returns to urge Laya to make amends with her father, but Laya’s pain goes deeper than her mother suspects. Laya is sent to the provinces to document a ritual of a disappearing indigenous tribe, and there, she inadvertently comes face to face with her own demons as she observes the relationships of the last remaining members of...
Reef Hunters
Fredo is a fisherman who has endured more than his share of hardship in life; his wife and child both perished in a boating accident, and today Fredo approaches each trip to the sea with the angry determination of a man out for revenge.
Hello, World
Long-time friends, Jeff and Johan have just graduated from high school. The former refuses to join his mom to move to the U.S. while the latter resists going to college. Filmmaker Joel Ferrer nostalgically captures the trials and joys of teenage love in an offbeat dramedy for his debut feature.
Kamera Obskura
The title “Kamera Obskura” is a Filipino spelling of the latin “Camera Obscura” which simply means “dark room”. The film’s concept adheres to formalist cinema, where the filmmaker’s thesis is to make a semblance of a vintage film seemingly produced sometime in the late 1920s to early 1930s in the Philippines. The thesis is to conjure up a film from a period that did not really exist in Philippine cinema’s historical cultural heritage as we know it, such as a pseudo-expressionist / experimental Filipino cinema of the silent film era. It is a ...
Yesterday Children
It is the time of El Niño, a season ruled by superstition and fear. The rain is long in coming, the ground has cracked up dry. The ricestalks are thin and sickly. Villagers go hungry. And a boy dies from a snakebite. The adults splinter. Some pray. Others join a cult to appease earth spirits and wait for the ada, the ricefield spirit goddess of bountiful harvest who dances naked on moonlit nights and signals the need for a virgin’s sacrifice. There are fence sitters, equally pro-church and pro-cult. A landlord’s steward enforces his master’s...
Bertud Ng Putik
The sin of the past is the tragedy of the present. The year is 1953 and Gabriel de Dios, a man who lives a simple and happy life with his family, possesses the good half of a powerful amulet while Damian Buenavista, a black-hearted scoundrel, who intends to rule the world own the bad half. But Damians plan to take control of the world will not be successful without the other half from Gabriel. Damians plans, however, turn futile when Gabriels bertud, as the amulet is called, saves Gabriel and brings him to the year 2003. Gabriel thinks he is...
Lagarista
Gregory bikes his way through the streets of Manila and transports film reels from one theater to another giving “extra service” to its patrons. He lives with his grandfather whose dementia worries Gregory, but whose stories of local movies being friends with Rogelio dela Rosa, Carmen Rosales, Leopoldo Salcedo, and other film stars fill him with inspiration.