Manila Dreaming
Director San San F Young
Countries United Kingdom
Duration 38 min
Synopsis
When filming those in crisis in the developing world, what can that footage mean to them? By bringing it back, can it help? In 2007 four boys were imprisoned in the Philippines, jailed as children for crimes from loitering to murder. I was there when they were pulled out. Over the years I followed and filmed these four boys: Jordan, Erickson, Joseph and Jeremiah, as they returned home to their lives. The hope was that they would be able to rebuild. This year I went back one last time to look for the boys, I wanted to see what had happened to them. They had never seen the footage of their past and I wondered what it would mean to them now. Recently winning a One World Media Award, this is a cinematic look at growing up in chaos, dealing with trauma and what happened to their young dreams.
When filming those in crisis in the developing world, what can that footage mean to them? By bringing it back, can it help? In 2007 four boys were imprisoned in the Philippines, jailed as children for crimes from loitering to murder. I was there when they were pulled out. Over the years I followed and filmed these four boys: Jordan, Erickson, Joseph and Jeremiah, as they returned home to their lives. The hope was that they would be able to rebuild. This year I went back one last time to look for the boys, I wanted to see what had happened to them. They had never seen the footage of their past and I wondered what it would mean to them now. Recently winning a One World Media Award, this is a cinematic look at growing up in chaos, dealing with trauma and what happened to their young dreams.