Esoterica: Manila (2014)

The Stranger by the Shore

Abandoned after coming out, Shun befriends Mio just before he has to move. Years later, Mio returns with a confession. How will Shun feel?

I Like You, I Like You Very Much

A tense love triangle unfolds as You struggles with his affair, questioning his identity and desires while caught between two men who change his life forever.

Whether the Weather Is Fine

Against the backdrop of the Typhoon Yolanda, a mother and her son struggle for survival and deal with absurdity of fate, sustained by the hope that they carry, and what is lost and gained.

Sex Drifters

When a young business man tried to open up his relationship to his girlfriend, the other man told him they had broken up and said they were 2 people. Shocked, one day at his workplace he ran into a young man who had been shown a picture of his ex-girlfriend as a new man, and his frustration grew. The next night he met the young man again at a gay bar and confronted him about the robbery, but he had no idea and realized it was his ex-girlfriend's lie. The distance between the two has narrowed, but there is a certain situation with him...

Oh! My Assistant

Webtoon writer Seon Ho loses his sex drive after creating steamy comics—until he hires Mu Young, a devoted fan. As sparks fly, so do complications in love.

When the Waves Are Gone

Lieutenant Hermes Papauran, one of the best investigators in the Philippines, is at a deep moral crossroads. He is a first-hand witness of the murderous anti-drug campaign conducted by his force, his anxiety and guilt triggering a severe skin disease. As he tries to heal, a dark past haunts him.

He Who Is Without Sin

One evening, Martin, a broadcasting student, is invited for coffee by Lawrence, the TV reporter he idolizes. During the days that follow, Martin shares with his friends separately three versions of what transpired during his meeting with Lawrence: what happened, what really happened, and what might have actually happened. Through conversations with friends, Martin comes to terms with the idea that his idol – a dignified newsman who is supposed to be a paragon of virtue – is not who he appears to be on television.

Ang Pirata

A story of greedy businessman on how they make their own money.

The Stepmother

The loving and nurturing Mariel marries Edward after his first wife abandons him and their three children. Mariel strives to win the acceptance and affection of her new stepchildren, even as she tries to define her role in the family.

Diary ng Panget

A young woman takes a job as a personal maid for a rich young man. The pair do not get along, but soon due to their classmates' games of love, their relationship grows more complicated than before.

Some Nights I Feel Like Walking

A rich teenager runs away from home and joins a group of street hustlers who go on a road trip to fulfill the final wish of their dead friend.

After School

As they are going to visit their former teacher, Micky, who is seriously ill, three men who were buddies back in their high school years are reunited. Moreover, they go back to the old cram school, reminiscing about their rebellious youth. In the 1990s, that cram school was known for its strict rules and the trio, who loved making trouble, had given the director a big headache until Micky arrived as a new teacher. He not only tamed the boys but became a good friend to them. Micky often talked about romantic relationships and sexuality to the students and made documentaries to speak up for the gay community. It is because of him that the students got to understand the homosexual or even themselves.

Summer to Winter

Tam, an introvert, finds solace in his unlikely friendship with the optimistic Kimhan by the sea, but as they grow close, their future together remains uncertain.

Sweet Boy

Lonely and living with his hardworking single mom, a studious teen begins to grasp the ideas of sex and his sexuality until a stranger makes a move.

The Eighth Sense

A shy art student joins a surfing club—and falls for the senior who teaches him more than just how to ride the waves.

Killer Instinct

For America, the Vietnam War is over. Johnny doesn't see it that way. This Special Forces soldier battles vicious Vietcong, a sadistic Russian advisor and his own peacenik girlfriend as he embarks on a deadly mission behind enemy lines.

The Family That Doesn't Weep

Only the famous family that doesn't weep can help reunite a desperate woman with her own.

See You

After his suicide, a teen ghost contacts his classmate through sign language, revealing the queer love and pain they were never allowed to voice.

No Law, No Heaven

A man's life in three vignettes as he grapples with identity amidst tradition in Hong Kong's notorious Kowloon Walled City.

Naked Weapon

A mysterious woman, known as Madame M, kidnaps forty pre-teen girls and transports them to a remote island to train them as the most deadly assassins. CIA operative Jack Chen follows the case for 6 years with no leads, but when a series of assassinations begin to occur, Jack suspects that Madame M is back in business.

From What Is Before

From What Is Before chronicles the gradual decline of a remote village in the early 1970s Philippines and the strange occurrences that befall it and its people, coinciding with Ferdinand Marcos' proclamation of martial law.

Mermaid's Jade

In a power-hungry Chang’an, a vengeful merman returns to the man who once owned him—this time with a blade, not love.

Monster

After an outburst at school involving her son, a concerned single mother demands answers, triggering a sequence of deepening suspicion and turmoil.

Kita Kita

Lea is a tour guide in Japan who suffered from temporary blindness and if not cured in a few weeks could be permanent. Tonyo who lives right across from Lea is persistent and determined to be her friend. They then become closer and Lea has seen the true character of Tonyo.

Moments in a Stolen Dream

A coming-of-age story of college student Joey, who's lost all sense of direction. His only inspiration is music, but he is yet to finish writing a song. His life changes when he meets Ana and his world is suddenly turned upside-down.

Method

A seasoned actor and a pop star are cast as leads in a gay romantic play. As the actor teaches the pop star method acting, the line between fiction and reality is blurred and they become drawn to each other.

Like Love

An offbeat love story about campus life around the An Zi Yan and Mai Ding who start military training as college acquaintances, Mai Ding was the one who made the first move to An Zi Yan, they have a good relationship and gradually felt sparks. After their relationship strengthens, their relationship is obstructed by their family and friends, like An Zi Yan’s sister Ansul who has a difficult attitude. An Zi Yan secretly asks help from his ex-girlfriend Bai Xiao Si. Based off the best-selling novel of the same name by Angelina.

I Carry You with Me

An epic love story spanning decades is sparked by a chance encounter between two men in provincial Mexico. Based on a true story, ambition and societal pressure propel an aspiring chef to leave his soulmate and make the treacherous journey to New York, where life will never be the same.

Tropical Malady

The passionate relationship between two men with unusual consequences. The film is divided in two parts. The first half charts the modest attraction between two men in the sunny, relaxing countryside and the second half charts the confusion and terror of an unknown menace lurking deep within the jungle shadows.

Gaze in Silence

Yun Fei’s twisted curiosity turns critical when Yan Xin’s life is threatened. Will he stay in the shadows—or act?

Big Bang Love, Juvenile A

An unknown future. A boy confesses to the murder of another in an all-boy juvenile detention facility. More an exercise in style than storytelling, the story follows two detectives trying to uncover the case. Homosexual tension and explosive violence drives the story which delivers some weird and fascinating visuals.

Pedro Calungsod: Batang Martir

Pedro Calungsod, a young Filipino man, leaves his Visayan native roots to join the Spanish Jesuit priest Fr. Diego de San Vitores in his mission to the Marianas Islands (Guam) in 1668. The San Diego Mission arrives in the Marianas where the young Pedro, a trained catechist and mission assistant, begins work for Fr. Diego de San Vitores in baptizing the Chamorro natives, preaching the holy gospel and spreading the good news of salvation through the Christian faith amidst paganism, doubt and disbelief. Despite the longing for his father and the threats to their lives, even at the peril of death, Pedro and Fr. Diego continued their missionary work. They roamed the dangerous islands and baptized many more natives and continued to enlighten them about Christianity.

She's Dating the Gangster

Seventeen-year-old Athena Dizon unwittingly plays a trick on resident heartthrob and bad boy Kenji de los Reyes. All of a sudden, she finds herself pretending to be his girlfriend to make an ex jealous; however, she falls in love with him.

The Extravagant Illnesses

Louis, 17 years old, is a romantic boy, loving to spend time on a small island lost in the middle of a pond with his lover Thibault. But Thibault is in a relationship with Sophie. So, for Thibault to be all his own, Louis casts a love spell on him. When electricity shuts down during a party, Louis believes that it's the sign his spell worked out. But things don't turn out the way he hoped for.

One Summer Night

Caught in forbidden love, Yong Joon defects from North Korea, leaving Jae Sung behind. Years later, a reunion forces him to choose between past and present.

Malvarosa

A poignant story of a family’s struggles in life. It tells of Rosa, who lives in the slums near the railroad tracks, with her mother and five brothers. Her mother wallows in guilt and depression when her drunkard father is run over by a train. Though she is set to marry her fiancé, Rosa chooses to put her family’s needs before her own. Rosa’s brothers also carry their own burdens, except for one, the youngest, Avelino, who helps his sister shoulder the weight of the family’s problems.

Swinging Blossom

Elderly Gu Si Jun, haunted by memories of a lost love, meets designer Ma Ming Jin—who looks just like the boy from his past—rekindling feelings he thought long buried.

Keep Coming Back

After the death of his mother, Emilio is not prepared to manage a cursed inheritance, the promiscuity of his desires and the discovery of a love. At 18 years old, he will be puzzled when he realises that fate sometimes hangs on something as fragile as the flight of a dove.

Young Hearts

14-year-old Elias increasingly feels like an outsider in his village. When he meets his new neighbour of the same age, Alexander, Elias is confronted with his burgeoning sexuality.

Twittering Birds Never Fly: The Clouds Gather

In the hyper-masculine criminal underworld, a masochistic high-ranking yakuza and his newly-assigned bodyguard become increasingly drawn to each other.

The Rooftop

High schooler You Cheng fumbles a hookup with Wen Ting, making him panic. To solve this issue, he spies on others, but Jing Hao’s nude shocks him.

Bloody Crayons

A group of friends goes to an island for a short film project when they are attacked by a mysterious killer after playing a game of bloody crayons.

Love Again

Yuuki Asakura, the CEO of a pharmaceutical company, is haunted by memories of a man he held close. However, one day, Yuuki comes across a young man who looks exactly like the man of his past. He wants to see him again and caress him, and the obsessed Yuuki goes to Nemoto, a man who once worked for his father researching for a rejuvenation drug. Yuki takes the medicine and finds his body suddenly enveloped by a strange light...

Kristo

The Gospel of John is reimagined as a Filipino pasyon tale.

Colorum

After spending thirty years in prison, Pedro (Lou Veloso), aging and obviously clueless as to what has become of the world outside the penitentiary, is finally freed.