Best Filipino documentary movies
Get ready to binge. We've found a collection of must-watch documentary films from Philippines, now streaming on Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Prime Video, and other top services!
Overseas (2019)
Overseas (2019)
In the Philippines, women get deployed abroad to work as domestic workers or nannies. In one of the many training centers dedicated to domestic work, a group of trainees are getting ready to face both homesickness and the possible abuses lying ahead during a series of role-playing exercises.
ALON: A Documentary on Plastic Waste (2020)
ALON: A Documentary on Plastic Waste (2020)
The film is an exploration of the various ways of mitigating the catastrophic effects of marine plastic waste as seen from the perspective of different surfing communities in the Philippines.
Japanese Summers of a Filipino Fundoshi (1996)
Japanese Summers of a Filipino Fundoshi (1996)
Kidlat Tahimik, a director and performer, sought to recreate relations between the body and filmed image seen through "Asian eyes." This groundbreaking project took the form of a documentary which Mr. Tahimik directed and in which he performed himself in order to show his own thinking about the different views of the body held by the "East" and the "West."
Bontok, Rapeless (2014)
Bontok, Rapeless (2014)
Two Filipina victims of sexual abuse search the truth behind the finding of a renowned anthropologist: that merely a few generations ago, the Bontok Igorot lived in what seems an unthinkable utopia—a rape-less society.
Docwomentary: Women Behind the Lens (2019)
Docwomentary: Women Behind the Lens (2019)
A filmmaker explores why women are at the forefront of documentary filmmaking in the Philippines by chronicling their narratives of struggle and victories as they navigate the masculine filmmaking industry. Throughout the film, she discovers her own reflexivity as a filmmaker but most importantly, as a woman.
Traslacion: Ang Paglakad sa Altar ng Alanganin (2015)
Traslacion: Ang Paglakad sa Altar ng Alanganin (2015)
“Traslacion: Ang Paglakad sa Altar ng Alanganin” focuses on four LGBT couples and their stand on equality and the right to marry. This documentary addresses their complicated quests in defining themselves within a conservative society.
Bullet-laced Dreams (2020)
Bullet-laced Dreams (2020)
Bullet-laced Dreams follows the Lumad children in Mindanao as they escape from military rule due to the incessant armed conflicts between the government & communist rebels. Rising tensions pushed these kids to transfer from place to place just to continue their schooling. The conflicts separated 14-year old Chricelyn Empong from her family, but she vows to fight for her right. In the evacuation site, Chricelyn & her classmates continue studying and protest for the end of martial law so they could go to back to their homeland. She says the only way to regain their way of life is to defend their right to education.
A Remembering of Disremembering (2020)
A Remembering of Disremembering (2020)
Told through the tales of love of a retiring film projectionist and a late-blooming actress, the short documentary delves into the journey of Manila’s oldest movie theater from grandiosity to obsolescence.
BINI Chapter 2: Here With You (2024)
BINI Chapter 2: Here With You (2024)
After the road to success shown in the first chapter, "BINI Chapter 2: Here With You" explores BINI's regional tour and their encounters with Blooms across the Philippines.
On the President's Orders (2019)
On the President's Orders (2019)
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.
The Nightcrawlers (2019)
Manoro (2006)
Manoro (2006)
The mountain-dwelling Aetas have been forced to settle in the lowlands by the sudden eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. With their settlements being closer to the government-funded schools of the Kapampangan townships, the Aeta children now have the opportunity to study. Jonalyn, one of the elementary school graduates of the ceremony depicted in the confused introduction and an Aeta, seeks to teach her elders to read and write a day before the National Elections. With Jonalyn's effort, the Aetas, for the very first time, have participated in the democratic process that has existed in the Philippines since the early part of the 20th century.
Beyond Nothing (2020)
Squatterpunk (2007)
Squatterpunk (2007)
Hapon is an 8-year-old survivor in the slums of modern Manila, scratching out an improvised existence at the margins of society. This rawly shot documentary follows Hapon and his mates as they swagger around their dilapidated universe. Featuring a punk-rock score by director Khavn's band the Brockas, the film captures a carefree spirit in the children that completely belies the squalid conditions in which they live.
Live Show Best Of 1 And 2 (2023)
Live Show Best Of 1 And 2 (2023)
Turn your fantasy into reality, A wild version of your favorite influencers that will surely give you pleasure you are dreaming of. Stream at liveshow.ph on March 2, 2023.
Budots: The Craze (2019)
Budots: The Craze (2019)
“Budots” has swept the entire nation by storm. But the dance craze that has people move around in uncoordinated, freestyle dance to a weird mix of electronic sound and noises, originated in Davao City in Southern Philippines before it got viral in the Internet and social media. An internet bum and a small group of people in his community started it all.
Kasama Kang Tumanda (2024)
Kasama Kang Tumanda (2024)
A filmmaker follows her grandparents’ daily life after her chain-smoker and alcoholic grandmother is forced to stop drinking beer for a month.
Come to Me, Paradise (2018)
Come to Me, Paradise (2018)
Paraiso, an all-seeing drone spirit, is summoned every Sunday into the heart of Hong Kong where Filipina migrant workers gather to socialise. As the women claim the public space, Stephanie Comilang’s sci-fi documentary considers social connections in today’s age of economic migration and modern technology.
Himala Ngayon (2012)
Himala Ngayon (2012)
A 2012 documentary about the making and the legacy of the 1982 drama masterpiece directed by Ishmael Bernal that ended up being one of the greatest Asian films of all time. The revelations about the theory of "Who killed Elsa?" will be answered and also, the impact of the film to the Filipino culture and society.
To Calm the Pig Inside (2020)
To Calm the Pig Inside (2020)
A contemplative film on the effects a typhoon leaves on a seaside city in the Philippines. Myths are woven in to try to understand how people cope with the devastation and trauma. A girl’s voice divulges bits and pieces of her own memory of her grandmother and mother to tie in the experiences she felt visiting this ravaged port city.
All Grown Up (2018)
All Grown Up (2018)
After years of nurturing and protecting her younger brother, a filmmaker is forced to question her ability to help the people she loves when her own daughter begins to have troubles of her own.
Manila... A Filipino Film (1975)
Manila... A Filipino Film (1975)
Making-of documentary about Lino Brocka's 1975 film "Manila in the Claws of Light," featuring interviews and behind-the-scenes footage.
The Last Journey of Ninoy (2009)
The Last Journey of Ninoy (2009)
It is about the story of the final days of Aquino from 12 August 1983 to 21 August till he was assassinated at the Manila International Airport. It features interviews and commentaries from Aquino's wife and former Philippine president, Corazon Aquino.
Viva Hotbabes Gone Wild (2007)
Viva Hotbabes Gone Wild (2007)
The Philippine's hottest, wittiest and most incisive deejay, Mo Twister, takes his controversial "Forbidden Questions" to the next level. This time he challenges eleven of the original Hot Babes to a truth and bare. Each Hot Babe must answer all questions - from the personal to the controversial - and be put to the final test. Mo Twister dares the babes to do the most outrageous, most shocking and most wild challenges ever to be set upon them. These unbridled feats will determine who is ultimately the hottest babe in the land.
Dam Nation (2020)
Dam Nation (2020)
This video focuses on Dumagat activists, Nanay Nene, Tatay Lope, and Chieftain Rodrigo and their continuous struggle to organize resistance against a Chinese-funded mega dam in Quezon. The Kaliwa Dam Project will displace numerous Dumagat and non-Dumagat families living near the dam site— yet another example of development aggression.
The Function of Fiction is the Abstraction and Simulation of Social Experience (2021)
The Function of Fiction is the Abstraction and Simulation of Social Experience (2021)
Image production is fiction-weaving. Together with Sheena Absalud, we spent an entire day in Pride Month in my room documenting ourselves using different cameras: three mobile phones, one action camera, one CCTV camera, and one laptop, while asking each other questions about our asexuality. Recognizing the role of the moving image in constructing prejudice, self-identity, and desires, and therefore the expansion of neoliberalism, "The Function of Fiction" attempts to abandon temptations to define “asexuality” and its place in the context of “LGBTQIA+”, in pursuit of new socialities and possibilities. Music in the film was spawned with plants and machines.
intimacy (0)
intimacy (0)
intimacy can cause a lot of misinterpretation, confuse us, and make our lives complicated.
Latch (2020)
Latch (2020)
What does it really take to breastfeed and sustain life in the Philippines? In spite of the key legislations on the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding in the Philippines, it has remained one of the top nations with the least number of exclusively breastfed children, and still has a stigmatised breastfeeding culture. "Hakab" explores the narratives of mothers in the Philippines coming from different social, economic, and cultural backgrounds braving the challenges of a repressed breastfeeding culture in the Philippines.
Climax (2024)
Climax (2024)
With 12M+ fans, VMX turned up the heat in 2024 with record-breaking, steamy films from top Filipino directors, starring your fave crushes and fresh faces. Join Robb Guinto & Apple Dy as they dive into the hottest scenes that left us sweating!