Eve Baswel
DirectorJohn Torres, Jules Katanyag
ProducerPhilippines
CountryLogline
12 hours before the collapse of the Manila Film Center in 1981, we follow the lives of the construction workers working tirelessly to complete the impossible deadline of finishing the building in less than two weeks before its opening.
Short Synopsis
The tragedy of the death of 168 workers, when a section of the Manila Film Center, the First Lady's vanity project, collapsed during its rushed construction in 1981, serves as the basis for this film. Faced with an impossible deadline, and working under horrendous conditions, stories of desperation emerge: Jun rejects his friend's dream of overseas labor, unwilling to surrender his dignity as a slave in a foreign land. Weary from endless toil, Kiko stands on the edge of roof, practicing his fateful and final dive. Trapped by destitution, Jing receives devastating news about his wife's peril that he might not be able to solve. Then panic – three workers staring at concrete that refuses to harden, not knowing that 12 hours into their shift, tragedy would strike. As authorities impose a media blackout, buried workers sing a song, awaiting a rescue that would never come.
Eve Baswel
Eve Baswel (1995) was born and raised in the southern island of Philippines in Maguindanao. Her love for the spontaneity of visual arts can be seen through her works in photography and cinematography. Eve’s films and photos reflect the inherent absurdity, loneliness, and vulnerability of human existence.
Her debut feature film ""Tia Madre'' garnered eight nominations at the 2019 Cinema Originals, including Best Picture and Best Director, and won Best Cinematography. Netflix Philippines acquired the rights to "Tia Madre." Additionally, her short film ""Walay Balay"" had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Directors' Fortnight. Both films were produced by Epicmedia.
Eve was selected to be part of the Directors Factory program, where she wrote and co-directed a short film among other selected 8 filmmakers from around the world.
Heaven Help Us was also selected to participate during the Full Circle Lab Philippines 2023 and was recently pitched during the pitching program of Directors Factory in Cannes.
John Torres
Jules Katanyag
Based in Manila, Los Otros is a film and video studio & platform dedicated to supporting works with unique personal voices.
It produced the films of John Torres and Shireen Seno, including Todo Todo Teros (2006), Lukas the Strange (2013), and Nervous Translation (2018).
These films have gone on to screen at BAFICI, Images Festival, Jeonju, Hors Pistes Tokyo, Edinburgh, New Horizons, Valdivia, Vienna, 3 Continents, and picked up prizes for Best First Film and Special Jury Prize at Lima Independiente, with Apichatpong Weerasethakul as jury head.
Current projects include Nowhere Near by Miko Revereza (post-production), The Boy and The Fight of Spiders by Jarell Serencio (in development), Wild Ducks by Shireen Seno, and The Remotes by John Torres (in development). Los Otros is a co-producer of Terratreme Filmes’ documentary feature Filipinas by Leonor Noivo (production).
Los Otros also works with experimental film and video initiatives from abroad to bring artist-filmmakers (Takahiko Iimura, Jangwook Lee, Akira Ikeda, Mie Kurihara, Miguel Hilari), films (Leviathan, Anatomy of a Paper Clip), curators (George Clark, Julian Ross, Allison Collins), and programs (Images Festival, Hors Pistes Tokyo, IFFR Shorts) to Manila.
In 2014, Los Otros teamed up with the GEN_LOSS platform to put together The Kalampag Tracking Agency, a curated program of Philippine experimental moving image practice over the past 30 years.