Manila Skies

Award-winning Filmmaker Raymond Red is no stranger to international audiences. He was the first Filipino to have won the Palme d’Or in Cannes for his 2000 short film, Anino. In Manila Skies we follow Raul (Raul Arellano), a struggling day laborer who tries to cobble together some money for a trip back to his childhood home in Romblon, where he hopes to help his ailing father. Raul’s attempts to secure a more lucrative job abroad are stymied by Manila’s suffocating bureaucracy. Tired of depending on others, Raul finally decides to strangle fate by virtue of his own calloused hands. He joins his drinking buddies in an ill-fated plan to steal from a disreputable businessman. After a disastrous turn of events, Raul ends up using a gun and grenade to return to the innocence he longs for. With guerilla-style framing that emotes claustrophobia and anxiety, Red propels us through the grime and heat of the city and never lets up. Inspired by true events.

Click here to watch the trailer!

Director Raymond Red will be in attendance and available for Q&A after the film.