Come Sept. 27, producers and directors will go on a speed dating event at the annual Film Pitch 2024 organized by the Directors’ Guild of the Philippines (DGPI) and the Film Development Council of the Philippines at the Seda Vertis North. We have listed projects worth watching. 

Jennifer Romano, based in Naga City, Bicol, brings in Padamlagan (Nightlight), a regional historical fiction about the collapse of the Colgante Bridge in Naga, which forced Doring, a father, to confront his deepest fear and the pain of long-ago—the loss of his son, Ivan. “I encountered the Colgante Bridge tragedy while conducting archival research for my graduate studies,” says Jennifer.

Carlo Obispo presents a coming-of-age project, In the End, It Begins, which is about a campus journalist, who discovers corruption in his school involving the school principal. “My intention is to delve into the intricate layers of personal identity, family dynamics, and moral courage, woven into the fabric of a compelling narrative centered around a young, campus journalist who inadvertently uncovers a web of corruption lurking within the very walls of his educational institution,” says the 2022 Cinemalaya Best Film winner for The Baseball Player.

After finishing Push Cart Tales and Under Parallel Stars, Sigrid Andrea P. Bernardo will pitch Purple Moon to potential financing partners. The logline reads: “In the enchanting place of Jeollanam-do, South Korea, destiny unites Filipina-Korean student Mona with JM, an overstaying Filipino migrant worker.” As they steer their connection, they unearth shared memories and lasting emotions that can only be unveiled by partaking in a mystical elixir—a magical purple tea brewed by Mona’s ailing Korean grandmother, Bora. “This film is a tribute to the resilience and strength of migrant communities and the complex, often untold stories of those who navigate life between cultures,” The director of the top-grossing independent film Kita-Kita.

Martika Ramirez Escobar gets ready for her second feature film, Daughters of the Sea co-written with Helen Beltrame-Linné. The coming-of-age fantasy drama centers on Lucia, a curious tour guide who unknowingly meets her father for the first time and lives vicariously through two people—a pet shop owner who tries to keep a dying mermaid alive and a fish vendor’s daughter

whose long missing mother reappears from nowhere. 

“I’m 30 years old and I have never met my biological father,” cites the Leonor Will Never Die filmmaker. “I’m too hy to ask my mother about him but I also think part of me likes the mystery of not knowing who he is.”

Ligaw is Kyla Danelle R. Romero’s homage to her father. The story is about Riel, a wandering ghost who visits his wife and son after being exhumed from his grave. “Two days before my father died, in remnants of lucidity, he mentioned his last wish—to go back home,” says Kyla. “To him, home is one of two places—at home with us, his family, or back in Agoo, his dear hometown, where his childhood memories lay, and where his ancestors lived until they were laid to rest.”

Sari Dalena is concocting Cinemartyrs, about a young filmmaker who explores the forgotten massacres during the Philippine-American War of 1899 (also called “The First Vietnam” by historians). The languages to be used are Tagalog, English, and Tausug.  “This is my love letter to my country’s cinematic history,” says Sari. “Cinemartyrs is set in the 1990s to early 2000, a period of decline in alternative filmmaking in the Philippines, when experimental shorts and documentary films were still being shot on 16mm format.”

Other projects include 2D na si Tody by Daniel dela Cruz, Child No. 82 by Tim Rone Villanueva, Don’t Mess with my Hormones! by Vahn Leinard Pascual, Memories of Decay from a Land Imagined by Ryan Miguel Capili, My AI Girlfriend by Michael Angelo Dagñalan, Paglilitis by Cheska Marfori, Paper Skye by Gian Andre Arre, Sentinel by Carl Joseph Papa, and Si Darna, Naka-maternity Leave by Glenn Barit.

A total of 163 entries applied for the Film Pitch and only 15 projects-in-development were selected by the DGPI committee members Ellen Ramos, Paolo Villaluna, and Mark Meily. The finalists will participate in a pitching workshop to be conducted by Hannah Montana and Trese producer Tanya Yuson before the speed dating event.

We hope that these 15 promising projects would be produced soon!