Private Project

LOLOBATMAN

A Filipino-American comedy writer sets out to find her late grandfather’s lost Batman film, uncovering a strange cinematic legacy and her own sense of belonging along the way.

  • Madonna Diaz-Refugia
    Director
  • Madonna Diaz-Refugia
    Writer
  • Chris Quintos Cathcart
    Producer
    Dìdi (2024)
  • Tara Aquino
    Producer
  • Byron Atienza
    Producer
  • Jonathan Augustavo
    Producer
  • Jess dela Merced
    Key Cast
    "Madonna"
  • Alyssa Limperis
    Key Cast
    "Nora"
  • John-Peter Cruz
    Key Cast
    "Luis"
  • Madonna Diaz-Refugia
    Key Cast
    "Lolo"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Comedy, Drama
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes 55 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 7, 2026
  • Production Budget:
    7,500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Madonna Diaz-Refugia

Madonna Diaz-Refugia (she/they) got her start writing jokes for drag queens in Philly and now lives in Los Angeles where they write fun, messy, and heartfelt coming-of-age stories. She was part of the inaugural class of the Mentorship Matters Fellowship and the Writers’ Access Support Staff Training Program Class of 2023. Having studied at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York, Madonna’s work has also been featured on Reductress and WFMU.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

My grandfather, Filipino director Leody M. Diaz, died in a movie theater before I was born. When I learned he had made an unauthorized Batman film in 1967 (now considered lost), I became obsessed with finding it as a way of understanding him.

LOLOBATMAN is both a search for that film and an attempt to connect with a legacy shaped by distance, time, and myth. Made under tight constraints that echoed my grandfather’s own filmmaking conditions, the film embraces a scrappy, personal approach to storytelling.

Blending humor with longing, I wanted to explore what it means to inherit a creative identity from someone you’ve never met and how we build belonging from fragments.