A SHORT FILM

Ug Kung Ganing Muhupaw ang Uwan

DIRECTED BY ZHYNNON MAR MANTOS

In a fishing village, the rain arrives without warning—and takes someone with it. No one speaks of it; to search is to summon more rain.But while the village bows in fear, ten-year-old Kokoy looks up. He watches the sky and wonders: Where do the disappeared go?Ug Kung Ganing Muhupaw ang Uwan follows Kokoy as he gathers what the rain has tried to bury, keeping them safe from the rain. Told through the eyes of a child, we ask what it means to remember in a place that has long chosen to forget—and what awakens when we finally do.Produced by Backlight Studios Inc.
Production Partners with Ugmad Productions, Yabo Film Lab and Visyon Studios.
Executive Producers Enriquez Brothers and Dan Tero.A Short Film Project funded and supported by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) in partnership with CreatePHFilms.

UG KUNG GANING MUHUPAW ANG UWAN
(And When the Rain Sobs)

PHILIPPINES
^{Country of Production}
CEBUANO (with English Subtitles)
^Language
Magical Realism
^Genre
Short Narrative Film
^Format
17:19 minutes
^Runtime
1.78
^{Aspect Ratio}
H.624
^{Screening Format}
Stereo
^Audio
Colored
^Color
July 2026
^{Completion Date}

FESTIVAL JOURNEY

^{COMING SOON}

PRODUCTION GALLERY
^{BEHIND THE SCENES}

ZHYNNON MAR MANTOS
^Director

A filmmaker from Cebu, Philippines, creating stories that explore memory, absence, and the quiet resilience of everyday people.

• → Read the Director's Biography

• → Read the full Director's VIsion Statement

JAMES EZEKIEL | JERICHO ELIO | ZAINE VELARDE
^Producers

Guiding the film from development to production with a shared commitment to honest storytelling and meaningful collaboration.

• → Read the full Producer's Vision Statement

BACKLIGHT STUDIOS INC.
^{Production Company}

A Cebu-based film company committed to cinematic stories rooted in culture, community, and creative integrity.

• → About Backlight Studios

KEY CREATIVES

Zhynnon Mar Mantos
^Director
Zhynnon Mar Mantos | Francine Marie B. Imperial
^{Written by}
Backlight Studios Inc.
^{Produced by}
Enriquez Brothers | Dan Tero
^{Executive Producers}
James Ezekiel | Jericho Elio | Zaine Velarde
^Producers
Ugmad Productions | Yabo Film Lab | Visyon Studios
^{Production Partners}Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and CreatePHFilms
^{Funded by}BACKLIGHT STUDIOS INC.
^{Film Distributor}

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FULL CREDIT LIST

SONG CREDITS

SPECIAL THANKS

SPECIAL THANKS TO THE
MUNICIPALITY OFARGAO, CEBU

Kent D. Rizon and Staff
^MDRRMO

BFP ARGAO

MDRRMO ARGAO

BPSO ARGAO

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Ug Kung Ganing Muhupaw ang Uwan envisions grief beyond the confines of the personal: as something sedimented in land, history, and public memory, where individual mourning reflects the nation’s unresolved wounds and the politics of erasure.Set in a coastal fishing community where absence arrives as predictably as storms, the film blurs the line between folklore and lived reality. Here, loss is rarely accidental; it is normalized, internalized, and absorbed into daily life. The storm becomes a language for a country long trained to endure impunity, corruption, and systemic violence—tragedies that dissolve into routine.The film is both memory and resistance. It refuses to accept disappearance as mere weather. Instead, rain exposes a culture of endurance shaped by repetition and neglect, where communities are taught to bear catastrophe, but never fully confront the absences left behind. Mourning is shortened by necessity, anger is softened into resignation, and memory slowly yields to adaptation.At its heart is childhood, an innocent lens to resistance. Through Kokoy’s eyes, remembering becomes an act of defiance, grief is allowed to resonate, and the search for meaning amid disappearance gives rise to a counter-language: an insistence on recalling what others have long forgotten.Stylistically, the film embraces poetic realism grounded in Filipino life, where myth, faith, superstition, and lived experience coexist without contradiction.Ultimately, this is a film about the politics of remembering in a nation built on layers of unresolved loss. It asks what it means to grieve fully in a place that prizes resilience over reflection, and what it would take to interrupt the cycle where pain is deeply felt yet swiftly forgotten.Rooted in the belief that remembrance is a moral act, the film envisions a world where memory is treated as an ethical obligation—where forgetting is not mistaken for peace, where the disappeared are not surrendered to silence, and where we dare to meet the sky with open eyes.

• → Read the Director's Biography

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DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY

Zhynnon Mar Mantos is a Cebu-based filmmaker, writer, and media practitioner from Liburon, Carcar City. A graduate of the Bachelor of Arts in Communication program at the University of the Philippines Cebu, he works across documentary, fiction, and community media, with a focus on storytelling rooted in memory, faith, culture, and social realities.His films and creative projects often explore themes of remembrance, loss, resilience, and collective identity, drawing from Cebuano experiences and local histories. Through poetic and socially conscious storytelling, he examines the intersections of personal memory and broader political realities, frequently using everyday rituals, landscapes, and symbols as narrative metaphors.Beyond filmmaking, Mantos has contributed to cultural, educational, and faith-based initiatives through writing, radio, video production, and event development. He is committed to creating spaces where communities, artists, and young people can tell their own stories and preserve the narratives that shape them.

• → Read the Director's Vision Statement

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PRODUCER'S VISION STATEMENT

“Ug Kung Ganing Muhupaw ang Uwan” is a film that transforms personal grief into a reflection on collective memory, resilience, and the unspoken losses shaping Filipino communities. As a producer, I am drawn to the story and the Director’s ability to tell a culturally rooted story that resonates beyond its setting, inviting audiences to confront disappearance, forgetting, and endurance.Locally, set in a coastal fishing community in the Municipality of Argao, Cebu, the film weaves together folklore, faith, and lived experience to create a distinctly Filipino narrative that is both intimate and universal. Through Kokoy’s perspective, it explores how remembering can become an act of resistance in a society where loss is often normalized and quickly absorbed into everyday life.Personally, my goal as a producer is to continue the legacy of producing quality motion pictures in the Cebuano film scene and to bring opportunities for Cebuano filmmakers, bringing local stories to a global audience while building a stronger future for Cebuano Cinema. I also believe that this story truly supports this goal that honors regional voices and authentic experiences.Beyond its artistic ambitions, the film seeks to spark reflection on the value of remembrance, challenging us to see memory not only as a personal act but as a collective responsibility.
I see this project as an opportunity to champion a story that is both culturally specific and universally relevant—a film that preserves memory, amplifies marginalized experiences, and contributes to ongoing conversations about grief, justice, and collective healing. Through thoughtful production and meaningful audience engagement, we hope to bring this story to screens in a way that resonates long after the rain has passed.JAMES EZEKIEL
^Producer

• → James Ezekiel's IMDb Profile
• → Jericho Elios' IMDb Profile
• → Zaine Velarde's IMDb Profile

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