Amidst the traditional pomp and circumstance of Filipino elections, a quirky people’s movement rises to defend the nation against deepening threats to truth and democracy. In a collective act of joy as a form of resistance, hope flickers against the backdrop of increasing autocracy.
In the Philippines, the journalist Maria Ressa fights a battle for democracy against president Duterte and his 'war on drugs', which has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
The searing story of President Duterte's bloody campaign against drug dealers and addicts in the Philippines, told with unprecedented and intimate access to both sides of the war - the Manila police, and an ordinary family from the slum. Shot in the style of a thriller, this observational film combines the look and feel of a narrative feature film with a real life revelatory journalistic investigation into a campaign of killings. The film uncovers a murky world where crime, drugs and politics meet in a deathly embrace - and reveal that although the police have been publicly ordered to stop extra-judicial killings, the deaths continue.
Filmmaker Mike De Leon released this short on the eve of the 1986 EDSA Revolt anniversary. During its 5 minutes, De Leon draws a harsh critique of the Philippine president, Rodrigo Roa Duterte.