Kamera Obskura

A story about love, hope, giving, sharing, forgiving and three ducks.

On a storm-ravaged island that has seen its share of tragedy, a person who had been assumed dead reappears and ignites a frenzy of reactions, ranging from ecstatic religious fervor to fear.

When asked for her real name, the feisty woman in a rural whorehouse would quip, "Ligaya. It means joy. And that's what I sell." Yet the small-town prostitute is not resigned that she would be in the flesh trade forever. She still harbors the dream of getting out of the job someday. She saves money and fancies that someone would come and marry her as if she were clean and never been a whore. That becomes almost a reality when a hardworking farmer enters her life. Under some problematic circumstances, her chances get blown away-but not exactly of her sole doing.

This is the story of Visayans coming to the MetroManila area in search of greener pastures. Dodong Valderama, a jack-of-trades orphan, and Santo Nino devotee, sis among them, trying his luck in a different place. He meets Inday and her Lola Angeling, also Visayan immigrants, who are fish vendors. Angeling dreams for her daughter to become a popular singer , and hopefully one day, this will get them out of the slums. Angeling is pursued by town widower Max. Dodong, whose idol is the late Flash Elorde, eventually finds a full time job as janitor in a boxing gym. Inday fails to win the town singing contest, much to the disappointment of Lola Angeling.With the help of friend Lao, Dodong pursues Inday until they become sweethearts, then husband and wife.

A tale of an innocent woman who unravels horrible truths while in search of her long lost sister in the city.

Ely, a young man who can't get over Celine, his past love, meets Mia, a young woman who escaped from a painful past in the Philippines and is trying her luck to rebuild her life in Spain. They meet. They fall in love. But can they overcome the hurt of the past to have a future together?

Senator Gabriel Alcaraz is preparing to deliver a privilege speech alleging corruption in the highest levels of government. On his way to the Senate, he gets wind of a plot against him. The police seek to arrest him for his part in an operation decades ago. Suspecting that the administration isn’t willing to give him a fair trial, Alcaraz goes into hiding abroad, hoping to find a way to clear his name and eventually return to his family. Back home, an old colleague is put in charge of finding him, and his family suffers under the pressure of public scrutiny.

The tale of an activist’s journey during the turbulent years of Martial Law, until his capture in the mountains and the dark, nine years of imprisonment that followed, leading to his birth as a poet.

Carlito is getting married. But he doesn't dare tell his parents. He also takes advantage of the safety of the bartering rural community from which he commutes back and forth to work.

Paula and Edmund are peacefully married until she meets Nicanor, a composer who happens to be their neighbor. Edmund feels troubled after seeing Paula seeing interest in Nicanor. Could it be that Nicanor is the man who will destroy their lives?

Fe returns home to the Philippines after several years of working overseas, her job a victim of global economic shifts. Fe is initially greeted with affection by her husband Dante, but he has a long history of domestic violence fueled by rage and long-term impotence, and Fe quickly discovers her time away has not changed him. Dante works in a factory making baskets, and Fe soon joins him there; she becomes the lover of Arturo, the man who manages the basket company, but while Arturo treats her well, he's still under the thumb of his father who owns the factory. Meanwhile, an unknown admirer sends her parcels of strange black fruit on a regular basis. Torn between two men who cannot give her what she needs and wants, Fe's frustration leads to take desperate steps to establish her independence.