Indie Films, Gen Z Soul, Filipino Heart
A look into the vision of Vision Media Productions—a valiant Filipino indie film organization dedicated to original and purposeful storytelling.
Philippine cinema has had a storied past.
The great pioneer Jose Nepomuceno of course created the first Filipino film, Dalagang Bukid, which was based on the Tagalog zarzuela of the same title. He essentially sparked the movie industry for the country. In the modern era, new auteurs are rising to the task of making movies to entertain audiences young and old.
If we were to take a cursory glance at the etymology, indie films are independent motion pictures financed and produced without the backing of a major studio. This sub-genre of films sets itself apart from the system of monster conglomerates by offering artists a larger degree of autonomy when it comes to creative decisions, disavowing studio involvement that attempt to thwart or corrupt the original vision. A multitude of famed movie directors have started their careers in this phase, cutting their teeth with a shoestring budget and figuring out their own distinctive styles.
VMP, or “Vision Media Productions” to put initialisms aside, is a cub fellowship of cinéaste, filmophiles, and movie buffs fluent in the language of films and the dialect of indie films. These people have put all their heart and all their soul into the independent scene. Their organization is five years old now, and thus far they’ve developed a knack for character studies in short film formats, introspective insight into the daily life of a Gen Z student in the Philippines, deep cuts into the greater anxieties of their society, and a slow-burn, slow-build story in medias res.
The youth organization was founded by director, executive producer, and scholar of the nation Jadrien Morales. VMP was originally contained inside Don Bosco Technical Institute of Makati with Jadrien and his friends, until it eventually expanded into other avenues, with people from other schools hopping on to join.
The crew consists of a slew of personalities:
Associate producers like Khyle Camacho, Ysa Panganiban, and Andre Forteza—directors like Shin Okajima, Gabriel Gonzales, and Erik Contreras—actors like Joel Sia, Maleah Frange, and Nine Fangki—and other crew members like Michel Hildawa, Luis Varias, EJ Papa, Gwyneth Santiago, Jay Pineda, Seven Fangki, former member Symoun Villar, and many others.
A diverse team of protean movie producers.
Experts in the art of telling a damn good story.
Quite honestly, there has never been a better time for young filmmakers to get the exposure and publicity they need for their passion than in the online era. Content that cost nothing more than a drop in the bucket can sometimes accumulate millions upon millions views on the interwebs, which is a count higher than a lot of TV shows.
This is something that a lot of Gen Z creatives are aware of, and our Filipino storytellers of Vision Media Productions are fully embracing this opportunity. They take advantage of certain tools like crowdfunding to get the ball on their project rolling. Their portfolio is already complete with imaginative short film projects such as:
“in case you miss it”
This is one heavy short film about the tricky ethics of journalism and how the content of one’s writing is often dictated by the arbitrary intentions of their superiors, but it’s also a heartfelt queer-coded story of trying to stay true to who you are in a place that actively discourages it.
“Let’s Go Somewhere Else”
Two friends, whose bridge was burned, inexplicably meet in a time after their high school lives were over, cramming for their finals as typical of a college student. Some awkwardness ensues and some loose ends are finally tied up. It’s a story of two people misunderstanding each other and two students trying to go at their own pace in a world that moves too fast.
“Sa Labas”
Which means “Outside” in Tagalog, this film participated in the Festival Internacional de Cinema Escolar de Alvorada and won the Best Sound Design and Mixing Award ex post facto.
“Kamusta, Horseman”
A stellar film which entered the Official Finalist under the Experimental Film category of Sinepiyu 17. This is more of a surrealist piece of media, wherein the Director Shin Okajima does a harsher take on the idea of the short film, with dark undertones and political implications.
“Sapantaha sa Dilim”
Many times has Vision Media Productions partaken in the festival known as CineMapúa, the annual flagship student short film competition of Mapúa University which invites emerging artists of the Gen Z youth from every scholastic corner of the metro. This short film entry “Sapantaha sa Dilim” is a diabolical post-pandemic psychological horror, and personally my first introduction to VMP!
“unpublished”
A film that won Best Picture at the Braga Media Awards and was also selected as a finalist under the Senior High School category in the CineMapúa Student Film Festival 2025, ultimately winning Best Sound.
It’s a thrilling tale of deceit and intrigue revolving around a campus writer that discovers inconsistencies in an old article, pushing him to unravel the truth and find out that their school history has been part of some forgery to protect people in power. It’s jam-packed with themes of censorship, misinformation, and institutional corruption. A question of how much is it worth to risk your future in order to safeguard the truth.
These are all the films I recommend, but definitely more will be coming out from them soon. Some folks out there seldom put respect on the name of indie films, but I and a lot of others take exception to that. We see the effort and energy these artists pour in.
When you factor in that everyone working on these projects is a student, it becomes even more impressive when you realize they’ve had to sacrifice a lot of their time, painstakingly balancing their studies and their art. This is no easy task, so every last one of them has earned an earnest round of applause.