Cultural Center of the Philippines

Set in the 14th century, a brewing friendship between the Chinese Emperor Yong Le and the King of Sulu, Paduka Pahala is forged upon the latter's visit to China.

A short film and a documentary, it explores the stories of a handful of CCP's staff, some of whom have stayed for decades working as stagehands, flyers, and lighting crew. Working tirelessly throughout each production, they embody the persevering heart of the theatre, with some of them clocking into the CCP as early as four in the morning to complete a task or get a head start.

A young, unmarried couple must agree on certain terms on how to properly raise their son, who is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

A driver is sent on a simple errand: to pick up a designer t-shirt and a tin of viagra for his boss, who is shacked up in a hotel with his lover. Simple as it sounds, the road trip crisscrosses the chasms of time, class, and character.

An introspective journey of a Filipino daughter attending the funeral of her estranged OFW father in a city in Japan that is rebuilding from the aftermath of the March 2011 tsunami.

A glimpse of the backstage work of the Center’s draftsman, modelmaker, and scenic painter. The 32-minute documentary features CCP’s master scenic artist, tracing his early beginnings up to his retirement through conversations with his mentees.

"Emir" is all about Amelia (Frenscheska Farr). Amelia hails from Ilocos and she is forced to find work abroad to provide for her family. Amelia leaves her family and everything she loves behind. Amelia applies as a nanny and is lucky enough to be the caretaker of the Sheik's pregnant wife. Later on, Amelia is given appointed nanny of the Sheik's first born son Ahmed. Through the years, Amelia will not only see Ahmed grow to a boy but she will also learn more about life's trials and tribulations, struggles of lonely worker in a foreign country.

Stranded for 21 years, a shepherdess endures and fights for survival in a foreign land until hope arrives.

A documentary on the life of Filiipino filmmaker and National Artist for Cinema Lamberto Avellana, produced by the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

The brother of missing activist Jonas Burgos bares in this documentary the untold stories behind the confidential leads, damning evidence, and why the disappearance of his brother remains a relevant case today.

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 film within a film. The narrative plays with the idea of a retro-futurist world where a prisoner locked away in a dark chamber for over two decades only sees the reality of the world outside through the small hole in his cell, which projects an image of the city on his wall, the phenomenon of the “camera obscura”.