Movies: Joe Gruta

When plain orphan Elsa begins having visions of the Virgin Mary, the rest of the residents of her isolated village find themselves questioning their own beliefs and values. Soon, Elsa is healing people with a variety of ailments. As word of this phen...

Julio, a young fisherman from a provincial village, descends into social alienation as he arrives in Manila to search for his loved one....

An intimate epic made with uncompromising and austere seriousness that patiently and methodically observes the collapse and hopeful revival of a poor farming clan, meant to symbolize a nation’s history spanning 1971 to 1987....

In the 1970s, a widow in a remote village takes over her husband’s barber shop. She becomes the laughing stock of the male-dominated community and in the process discovers freedom and liberation....

The film splits itself between two timelines. In 2006, Ada is basing her thesis on a massacre that occurred twenty years prior in a village called Acacia. Her mother Cecilia was part of a fact-finding mission into a massacre, and Ada’s inquiries brin...

Amidst the vast sugar plantations of Negros in Southern Philippines, a matriarch lies in the throes of death. Her children rush home to confront the crisis as news of the impending death of their well-loved mother spreads among the community. There, ...

Years ago, Tina (Andi Eigenmann) was sent away to the United States to live with her aunt because of an incident involving her parents that has never been explained to her. She moves back to the Philippines into their old home, hoping for a new start...

Middle-aged Manila storeowner Amelita supplements her tiny income by collecting bets for the popular numbers game of jueteng. While looking out for police crackdowns, the masterfully persuasive Amelita cajoles all comers into placing wagers....

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Rafael is a village mayor caught in the murderous crossfire of the Philippine-American War. When U.S. troops occupy his village, Rafael comes under pressure from a tough-as-nails officer to help the Americans in their hunt for Filipino guerilla fight...

A neglected and unloved orphan raised by poor relatives in the slums of Manila is wrongfully convicted of murder that resulted from a heist he was compelled to join. Unable to prove his innocence and his minor age, he is thrown into the cruel, perilo...

Lola Edna bears the challenges of her debilitating dementia, while killing time in a facility for the elderlies. She collects photos from occasional visitors, mostly strangers, in the hope of remembering her long-lost daughter and granddaughter. She'...

Typhoon survivors fall victim to syndicate that forces the to beg on the streets....

A man appears to a female reporter and claims he is the famous kidnapper that has the world astir and promises to turn himself in if she listens to his story. Though she is suspicious of him, she starts to fall more and more into his story....

Melba is the wife of a slain farmer-leader whose murder is attributed to an incumbent governor. She goes to the city to appeal the case and to seek out a new life after the tragedy. Working as a staff member at the office of City Councilor, she is in...

After suffering from a vehicular accident, Rosa and her sons transfer to the province. She hopes that the new place will heal the rift between her and her younger son, Rommel. Little does she know that their lives will be at risk when the vengeful g...

The movie Edna is a unique take about real and imagined fears of overseas Filipino workers. Staged in three parts- the film attempts to walk the audience from a thrilling arrival to an astonishing departure....

As the EDSA Revolution unfolds, a mother, son, and daughter who live in a slum near Malacañang Palace grapple with the murder of their patriarch in the hands of corrupt policemen, turning from passive victims of social injustice into active participa...

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

On a storm-ravaged island that has seen its share of tragedy, a person who had been assumed dead reappears and ignites a frenzy of reactions, ranging from ecstatic religious fervor to fear....