Maria Elena Catajan
- Whammy Alcazaren’s ‘Water Sports’ in the 21st edition of the Cinemalaya - October 10, 2025
- The Republic of One: Renei Dimla’s Republika ng Pipolipinas - October 8, 2025
- Ascension by Hannah Silvestre, a short film for the 21st edition of the Cinemalaya - October 7, 2025
Political satire punctuates Renei Dimla’s first full-length directorial venture, the 105-minute mockumentary Republika ng Pipolipinas.
The film’s provocative logline: what happens when a farmer, facing eviction from her own land, decides to renounce her citizenship and unilaterally establish her own micronation?
The story centers on Cora Vitug, played by the formidable Geraldine Villamil, a disillusioned farmer who fights the impending government takeover of her property by declaring herself the head of the Republika ng Pipolipinas. This solitary act of resistance immediately fractures the community. While some are inspired by her courage, many others quickly question her motives and even her sanity. The film uses this division to explore the very definition of patriotism and community.
Cora’s peaceful protest is thrust into a new government project threatens to hasten her displacement. Cora and her growing band of ‘citizens’ must pivot from defiance to investigation, setting out to unearth a tangled web of corruption that extends far beyond their small, beleaguered town.
Dimla, a screenwriter and Palanca Award recipient known for her work in film and television, including her animation piece Anomi, transitions smoothly to the director’s chair, this deeply political tale.
Cast includes Alessandra de Rossi, Kakki Teodoro, and veteran Xiao Chua, and anchored by the technical excellence of cinematographer Pabelle Manikan and editor Cha Escala. Maria Elena Catajan
