Let’s be honest here. The popularity of Indie Filipino Films right now is as stable as compared before because:
Exhibit A: It is currently well-marketed by film lovers
Exhibit B: We have existing platforms and means to avail (aside from local cinema & limited time viewing)
But with Netflix, everything was made possible and made it a lot easier to discover some existing local films that we shouldn’t miss.
Kung Paano Hinihintay and Dapithapon (Waiting for Sunset)
A 2018 Cinemalaya film about an unmarried couple who lives a normal life for 27 years and then one day got a call about the woman’s estranged husband who is sick and dying. They fulfill some of his small wishes and reconciled through forgiveness, moving on with their lives, and finally a closure.
Photo from Cinema Bravo (Facebook page)
Hintayan ng Langit (Heaven’s Waiting)
This film is about Lisang who is two years late in arriving heaven because she stayed in purgatory for a long while due to her violations. And here, she met her deceased ex-boyfriend and they now reminisce their past love story that became complicated and made it impossible for them to reach heaven in time.
Photo from Cinema Bravo (Facebook page)
Pan de Salawal (The Sweet Taste of Salted Bread and Undies)
Pan De Salawal is a magical film that captures about the mundane life of common people with their illnesses. And then one day, a child named Aguy came to the picture because of her power to heal them all except the protagonist, Sal. This is a film about enduring the painful procedure of healing and understanding oneself.
Patay na si Hesus (Jesus is Dead)
This is a comedy film about a family who goes on a road trip from Cebu to Dumaguete to attend the burial of their estranged father. Along the way, they discovered more family secrets which made them build a stronger foundation. With its dark humor, Patay na si Hesus tackles issues inside the family and how they dealt with it the coolest way possible.
Lola Igna
This film is about the grandmother who is nearly on her way of making herself in the Guinness World Record as the “Oldest Grandmother in the World”. This is a heartfelt story about an old woman whose quest is to die and later on found out new reasons to live. It tackles issues about longing, family, values of growing up inside a big family, and forgiveness.
