Lino Brocka

Signos (1984) is a Super 8mm film documentary that was a true product of its time, a collaboration by film artists and writers, who, in spite of varying political persuations, were united by one common goal – ousting the reviled Marcos regime. It features interviews of courageous personalities who challenged the autocratic rule of the Marcos family.

A documentary TV special on the life of Lino Brocka, released in 1998 for Pinoy Blockbuster Original.

A UNICEF-sponsored six-film anthology depicting childhood horrors around the world

A woman and her family leave their fishing village after an oil spill and move to the ghettos outside Manila. There the woman struggles to keep her family together amidst terrorism, crime and corruption, and attempts to prevent her children from falling prey to the dangerous allures of the city's night life.

7.4/10

Brought up with the belief that a woman should only follow one man and their only role is to be a mother and wife, Ciena married Nitoy. The young newlyweds were invited by their childhood friend, Dick, in a secluded resthouse, where something unexpected changed their lives and relationships.

6.9/10

Maia Robles was a famous television commentator whose work was focused on social issues particularly corruption in the government. However, because she was having an affair with a politician, who was helping her further her career, she turned a blind eye to his wrongdoings.

7/10

A nun named Dolores is raped. She becomes pregnant, gives birth and is punished by cruel superiors. She then meets Vince and marries him but later discovers that Vince was the one who raped her.

6.3/10

An aired tv movie about the relationship between a handicapped child and his parents.

Delfin is a doctor who returns to his hometown in the hopes of giving medical assistance to the people of Buena Vista who are suffering from leprosy. He also returns to find out the real reason why his father was killed. The longer he stays, the more he realizes that leprosy is not the town's incurable disease bu the hatred that lies in the heart of the people.

A Channel 13 drama special about a cop whose one night of infidelity almost cost him his job and his life.

A teenage boy befriends a starlet who is having an affair with an ambitious mayor. As the elections are coming up, the mayor's wife wants him to get rid of his mistress. The starlet agrees to stop the affair on condition that the mayor help release her boyfriend from jail. The mayor does so, but wants the former jail-bird to kill his political rival.

6.6/10

The story of an unsuccessful attempt to convict a congressman's son of rape takes an unexpected twist, as the accused pursues a friendship with the victim. A mysterious and deadly rapist and murderer spreads terror and chaos among women in the city. But in the midst of intrigues, tensions and dangers a lawyer is attracted to him the mysterious man realized that he's not a murderer or a rapist. Yet she falls and be friendly with him, which in turn fearing that she'll be his next target and it is he that is going after her.

6.6/10

A corrupt, lonely couple manipulates a naive, young couple using money, power, and lies.

6.8/10

After her mother dies in childbirth, a blind little girl has to learn to live with her wealthy father’s new wife—her new stepmother—and her two children. After her stepmother purposely leaves her alone outside a crowded church, she is found by an old fisherman, who raises her as his own daughter.

A 1990 drama movie starring Gary Valenciano, Ricky Belmonte, and Eddie Garcia.

The year before the Edsa revolt in a remote barrio, cult fanatics brutally kill a foreigner priest who administered the last rites to an alleged rebel summarily executed himself by the very group. In the city upon the toppling of the Marcos regime, an ex-priest leads a crew of political detainees in jubilation. After his release, he marries his human rights activist-girlfriend and decides to join a fact-finding mission that will bring him to the scene of the heinous crime a year ago. There the cultists continue to slaughter suspected communist rebels and terrorize the villagers. A native of the village is the ex-priest's old flame who turns out to have a seven-year-old son by him.

6.8/10

Abandoned by his American lover, a handsome teenager from the mountains journeys to Manila in an effort to support his family. With a popular call boy as his mentor, Paul enters the glittering world of male strippers, prostitution, drugs, sexual slavery, police corruption and murder. Teeming with sex and Asian beefcake, Macho Dancer is a searing indictment of the hypocrisy and police corruption rampant under both the Marcos and Aquino regimes.

6.2/10

Salve, a content barrio lass, is married to Alfred, an aspiring politician. Alfred meets Via finds out that they can both be very useful to each other's lives. He is set on pursuing a political career and Via is from a powerful political family that wants to continue to govern the land. Together, Albert and Via plan a scheme to get rid of Salve. But Salve survives the carnage. Salve takes revenge.

6.5/10

A driver sells his baby to his wealthy, childless employers.

Wanting a better life for his baby, a driver switches his son for his employers’ newborn girl, forever entwining the futures of both families and enacting a series of violent consequences.

6.4/10

Three different kinds of love stories in one picture all of them top-billed by Sharon Cuneta. One is "I LOVE YOU MOOMOO" where she played the young bride who died while on her honeymoon. In the second "SILID" she was an interior decorator who decided to unravel the mystery of the forbidden room. While in the third episode "KARUGTONG NG KAHAPON" she was the wife torn between the abusive husband whom she loved and the former boyfriend who still cared for her.

6.1/10

Documentary filmmaker Christian Blackwood profiles controversial Filipino director Lino Brocka, detailing his rags-to-riches rise in the mainstream film industry of the Philippines. Primarily using interviews with the effusive director himself, Blackwood allows Brocka to describe, in his own terms, the common thematic threads tying together his work, from his own homosexuality to the political repression suffered by Filipinos at the hands of Ferdinand Marcos' dictatorial government.

7.8/10

To what lengths would a woman go to be able to possess the man she loved? This film directed by the world-acclaimed Lino Brocka provided an answer. The rich and beautiful Rosita would do anything to win the love of the man she had become obsessed with. This included trying to destroy his marriage and when she failed she tried to kidnap his son. Still neither her beauty nor all the money in the world gave her what she wanted.

8.8/10

A riches story amidst the filth and squalor of the Smokey Mountain. A scavenger among the garbage who had to carry her crippled mother on her back while begging on the steps of the Manila Cathedral. Raped by an unknown man she left her poverty laden existence and won success as a singer.

7/10

A typical story of a hopeless Filipino worker whose last resort is to work abroad to save his family from poverty. Melo trudge the desert to look for greener pasture but it seems like it is too far and hard to reach. His family here in the Philippines was left in a maze and each of them had to find his/her way out. On his homecoming, which welcome will hurt him most: his torn pocket or his broken home and heart?

With interviews with National Artists Lamberto Avellana and Lino Brocka and myriad talents from the Mowelfund community such as Nick Deocampo and Raymond Red, Beyond Mainstream documents the robust energy of nascent independent filmmaking in the country in the 80s. Based on Nick Deocampo's first book Short Film: The Emergence of a New Philippine Cinema (1985), it features the first Independent Film and Video Festival held in the Wave Cinema in Cubao, Quezon City, the first video theater in the country.

This is the story of Miguelito, his estranged mother Auring and the quest for justice against a powerful politician. After ten years of suffering in jail for a crime she did not commit, Auring cries out for two things - justice and her son back in her arms. Bravely she faces her powerful oppressors led by the formidable town mayor who also happens to be the father of her son. Being the first film Brocka directed since his highly publicized arrest and detention, Miguelito is one's typical soap opera set in a political backdrop that portrays the social condition of the time.

7.4/10

Three girls are sold into prostitution.

7.4/10

A street hustler falls in love with a bar girl. They get married, but separate when the guy gets meted a death sentence after gunning down a rich customer of the bar in a fit of jealousy. The bar girl bears the hustler's child who becomes eventually blind.

Follows the life of a young movie star Jing Jing (Snooky)

A worker nicknamed Turing finds himself in a quandary when the printing press where he is hired as a casual is hit by a strike. As his wife badly needs medication after getting pregnant, he is forced to sign a waiver inhibiting him from joining any mass action in exchange for a wage advance from his employer. Left with no choice, he turns scab and is ostracized by his friends and colleagues. At the hospital where the wife undergoes treatment, she would not be released until all the bills have been fully paid. The situation further heads for the worse when the firm is finally shut down. Turing opts for a desperate move.

7.7/10

Dreaming to be released from her miserable life of poverty, Aida, a waitress, abandons her bedridden father, her moralistic mother, her jobless brother and her good-for-nothing sister to live-in with her boyfriend Carding, whom she believes could give her salvation. But her plan only gives her more misfortunes. Carding gets jailed for drug peddling. Aida opts for an abortion. She later lives with a wealthy man to feul her ambition. Carding is released from prison and finds out about his wife's illicit affair.

7.4/10

A 1984 erotic melodrama by Lino Brocka about a former softcore porn star ("bold star" in the Philippines), her abusive husband and their new next-door neighbor.

A girl grew up alone in a secluded island, ostracized by the people for being born out of wed lock. A young Hawaii-based Filipino-speaking tourist came and brought her to Hawaii where she learned unexpected truth about her past.

8/10

This official entry to the first Metro Manila Film Festival in 1983 directed by Lino Brocka and starred Carmi Martin, Phillip Salvador, Dennis Roldan, Vic Diaz, and Tony Santos, Sr centers on the story of Gigi, a burlesque dancer who is the main attraction of show.

Film critic Tony Rayns interviews Lino Brocka and other prominent Filipino filmmakers.

7.8/10

Lydia, a prostitute, is caught between the love of her long-time partner, Sidro, who is a hired gun, and George Grace, an American soldier stationed at a U.S. military base in Pampanga.

6.5/10

This film probes into the minds and hearts of illegitimate children and their mothers.

Chuck (Christopher de Leon) decides to make an honest woman of his long-time live-in partner Carissa (Dina Bonnevie) by marrying her. But marriage does not seem to agree with them for they are now headed for a divorce. Chuck is seeing his colleague Betsy while Carissa is spending a lot of her time in David's (Mark Gil) apartment. But what if Chuck finds out that Carissa's friend David is ""gay""? And Carissa finds out her husband is just jealous so he is using Betsy as a pawn? Will they push through with the divorce then?

In this modern-day version of the biblical legend on Cain and Abel, strong-willed matriarch Señora Pina favors her younger son Ellis over the older Loren whom she blames for the death of her husband. Ellis grows up cowardly and spoiled while Loren becomes a responsible family man despite his increasing resentment towards his mother. What began as a sibling rivalry develops into a deep feud that would later escalate into a large-scale war - with all the mayhem and bloodshed.

6.9/10

A 1982 drama by Lino Brocka set in the world of boxing, starring Phillip Salvador, Vic Vargas and Chanda Romero.

6.1/10

“Doria (Nora Aunor) is a professional singer. Dick (Christopher de Leon) is an advertising executive. Although married for closing to three years, they have agreed to have a liberated union, giving Doria the time to concentrate on her career and Dick the leeway to play around. The arrangement seems fine until their third year anniversary when Dick gets caught up with flirtatious go-go dancers, leaving Doria alone all night, waiting for her husband on what she thought was a very special night for them. That night’s heated argument forces Doria to leave Dick, leading to the comedic events and encounters that comprise much of what makes Lino Brocka’s Dalaga si Misis, Binata si Mister such an entertaining film.”

Classes clash in this 1981 teen romantic comedy by Lino Brocka about a streetwise college dropout attempting to win the heart of a privileged, wealthy girl.

In Lino Brocka's 1981 melodrama, a man's juggling of three women—his wife, his girlfriend, and the wealthy married woman with whom he begins a torrid affair—leads to violent consequences.

Brocka's potboiler about the rise of a starlet (Gina Alajar) is the quintessential rags-to-riches, prey-turned-predator story, brimming with true-life anecdotes and an authentically acerbic sense of the seamier side of show business.

7/10

After his expulsion from college Juni Locsin (Gabby Concepcion) is forced to continue studies at Eastern College Of The Republic, an ordinary university. This is a contrary environment to the young man accustomed to luxury.

6.2/10

Angela Delmar (Hilda Koronel) works as a waitress for one of the seedier bars in Manila. There she meets five patrons of the bar, who also turn out to be a gang specializing in drugging and raping girls and later on selling them to prostitution.

8/10

Corazon Rivera (Nora Aunor) is a factory worker in a textile company owned by Cynthia Ocampo's (Hilda Koronel) family. Her live-in partner and co-worker, Robert de Asis (Phillip Salvador), is an ambitious law student. One day, she finds herself pregnant and Robert is not pleased. As he worms his way into the good graces of his employer, Cynthia falls in love with him and also becomes pregnant. The two plan a church wedding but first, Robert must get rid of Azon.

7.2/10

A scorned teenager gets revenge on the aging gigolo who took advantage of her while pursuing other women.

7.5/10

A mother and daughter falls madly in love with mysterious stranger Emil Santos.

8/10

Lino Brocka's masterful melodrama, about a husband who falls in love with his mother-in-law.

8.4/10

When her half-sister Emilia succeeded in seducing her boyfriend 20 years ago, Pura decided to fly to the United States. Now, she returns to her hometown to see her ailing father. Her surprise visit opens up old wounds and revives the sibling rivalry between her and her half-sister who will not let her forget that she is a bastard.

7.7/10

Poldo, a lowly security in a publishing firm, dreams to be rich. He becomes the personal bodyguard to his employer's son, Sonny, when he impresses the latter with his courage and skills during a quarrel where Poldo defended Sonny. Poldo gets a taste of his boss' carefree and extravagant lifestyle and thinks that he accepts him as a friend. In one of the nightclubs they frequent, Sonny is smitten by dancer Cristy and aggressively pursues her despite a warning from San Pedro, the movie director with whom Cristy has an affair. When they chance upon each other, Sonny and San Pedro fight. Poldo comes to his boss' rescue and guns down San Pedro. In subsequent circumstances, Poldo would soon arrive at a bitter realization. As he could not see in Sonny the benefactor that he pictured him to be, Poldo finds himself alone, abandoned and betrayed.

7.3/10

The real story behind a killer case.

8.2/10

Hilda Koronel, Phillip Salvador and Bembol Roco play bank robbers who go into hiding in the jungle after one of them kills a civilian during a heist.

6.8/10

Coring, a gay beautician, is left with a baby by his former ward, Dennis. The baby grows up thinking that Coring is his real father. Everything seems to be smooth until the kid's mother suddenly shows up to claim her son.

7.2/10

A simple love story between two souls, a beerhouse dancer and her lover, intensely in search for their place in the sun

At the turn of the century, Maruja Isable Sevilla y Mira poisons herself when forced to marry a man she does not love. Several decades later, she is reincarnated as a young producer-actress, Nina Concepcion. Nina is hell-bent on filming the legend involving the couple of ill-starred lovers. However, wandering ghosts and possessions by entities in a haunted ancestral home keep Nina's cast busy. Events come to a height when the past collides with the present.

6.5/10

Because his mother is too poor to feed her young children, Empoy is sent to work for his exploitative and cruel aunt.

7.7/10

Upon her retirement from being a school teacher, a mother slowly realizes that her children are already grown-up and she now is faced with the dilemna of being part of their lives

7.7/10

A young woman raped by her mother's new boyfriend finds a new way to exact revenge.

7.6/10
10%

Mario O'Hara's surreal debut film, about a man recovering from mental illness.

7.4/10

The setting is an Olongapo bar. Lolita Rodriguez is an ex-movie queen trying to earn a living for her son and herself. He is mortally embarrassed by her livelihood and sometimes refuses to acknowledge her as his mother. Bembol Roco is the son of a prostitute who has disappeared from his life. He is looking for his mother in the honky tonk bars. He meets Lolita Rodriguez whom he fancies as his lover. However, he thinks of her as a decent woman. But Lolita has financial problems. In order to pay for her debts, she is forced to perform a striptease. Bembol happens to be in the bar when she starts to gyrate, but she ignores his presence. This destroys his illusions. When they are alone together, she berates him and teaches him the value of survival and acceptance of one’s fate.

A young fisherman from a provincial village arrives in the capital on a quest to track down his girlfriend, who was lured there with the promise of work and hasn’t been heard from since. In the meantime, he takes a low-wage job at a construction site and witnesses life on the streets, where death strikes without warning, corruption and exploitation are commonplace, and protests hint at escalating civil unrest.

7.8/10
10%

Making-of documentary about Lino Brocka's 1975 film "Manila in the Claws of Light," featuring interviews and behind-the-scenes footage.

7.3/10

Diego and Gabriela Silang are landed Ilocos natives disaffected with the imposition of the indulto de comercio (a law giving right to Spanish officials to buy rice and tobacco at the price they prefer). The year is 1762 and the British invade Manila, the childless couple is among the landowners denying aid to the Spaniards in thwarting the British. When the Spaniards in retaliation jail Diego, his wife gathers their confederates and leads the uprising herself.

"Tatlo, Dalawa, Isa" or in english "Three, Two, One" is a compilation of three intimate stories directed by Filipino cinema legend Lino Brocka. The films show the perseverance of hope despite a sense of despair. Featuring a drug addict, an abandoned daughter and a repressed catholic.

7.5/10

The son of a wealthy man, Junior has everything he could possibly want. But the emptiness of his extravagant lifestyle and the hypocrisy of the town's so-called leading citizens weigh heavily on him, and he reaches out to the village outcasts.

7.6/10

Drama among family and friends unfold in Villa Miranda, a town in the world of false glories and true defeats.

Adapted from Mars Ravelo’s serialized “komiks,” this 1971 melodrama by Lino Brocka stars Rosemarie Sonora, Dante Rivero and Hilda Koronel as a twisted love triangle.

For love is our anthem, our dream and golden flame - to make beautiful tomorrows as we burn yesterday's sorrows.

This movie is about the "movies." A story that narrates how an ambitious mother and frustrated actress pushes her youngest son into a tragic career in show business. Her son becomes part of the tinsel world but realizes that he must disassociate himself from his illiterate mother for fear that his humble and humiliating background be exposed. In the end, they all suffer the consequences of their ambitions. Stardoom, one of Brocka's early directorial attempts, clearly puts across his vision and strong sense of realism despite the movie's commercial intent. Seventies matinee idol Walter Navarro plays the aspiring teen TV star while award-winning actress Lolita Rodriguez, essays the role of Toyang, the fussy stage mother.

8/10

Fragile as a teardrop - Powerful as a God-given Right.

A nighttime attempt to sabotage a Japanese munitions store in the little town of Santiago goes wrong when Gonzalo (Fernando Poe, Jr.) discovers that the schoolhouse they are about to blow up is filled with women, old men, and schoolchildren.

6.8/10

A Filipino immigrant travels the American west searching for his relatives. Although he doesn't speak much English, he winds up getting involved with Chinese immigrants, a beautiful blonde American girl, and finds himself appointed sheriff of a small town that's having trouble with an outlaw gang. - Written by [email protected]

6/10

Lino Brocka's adaptation of Mars Ravelo's "komiks" melodrama about a successful businessman trying to hide his homosexuality.

8.1/10

It tells of a couple, Dante and Elsa who hires a new governess, Carla to care for their four children. The governess quickly establishes rapport with the children and the husband creating rumors of an affair. Before things could go wrong, Carla decides to leave. Elsa dies in a car accident and the widower decides to marry again and getting a new mother to his children. Carla is the popular one among several choices, but the head servant poisons the minds of the children against her.

7.8/10