Private Project

Operation Pukis : A Haircut for a Cause

A heartwarming community story that sheds light on the struggles of night club entertainment workers, beauty salon haircutters , small scale miners , and sex workers, following the story of an aged, COVID stricken nightclub operator who was left with nothing but a moldy bankrupt gay bar and a small group of old friends coming together in the great Filipino spirit of “Bayanihan”.

In a rare display of community volunteerism spirit , a fund drive activity was led by the City’s LGBTQ haircutters, barbers, beauticians, drag performers, and sex workers to help its own vulnerable members during the worst challenge humanity had to win in recent times. Jury Prize winner for Best Performance at the first ever Montañosa Film Festival, a regional film festival based in the mountain region of Luzon island the Cordilleras. This film festival was duly supported by the Film Development Council of the Philippines.

  • Angelo Español Aurelio
    Director
    Writing Thirty, Anatomy of an Octopus Woman , The Black Saturday Play
  • Angelo Español Aurelio
    Writer
    Writing Thirty, Bakata: Battle of the Street Poets, Anatomy of an Octopus Woman
  • Fairlane Inso
    Producer
    Official Selection Montañosa Film Festival
  • Eros Goze
    Key Cast
    "Clarita/Carlito"
    Best Performance
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    22 minutes 44 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 10, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    1,800 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Philippines
  • Country of Filming:
    Philippines
  • Language:
    Tagalog
  • Shooting Format:
    digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Montañosa Film Festival
    Baguio
    Philippines
    March 20, 2021
    Philippine Premiere
    Official Selection/ Jury Prize Best Performance
Distribution Information
  • Vimeo
    Country: Philippines
    Rights: Video on Demand
Director Biography - Angelo Español Aurelio

ANGELO AURELIO is a Theater and Film Director, Writer, Producer, Visual Artist, and Performer. Directed and Written Social Commentary Plays such as Sa Isang Iglap, BAKATA, Anatomiya ng Babaeng Pugita, Black Saturday Play, and Misericordia. Most of his plays were staged and crafted in the slums of metro Manila, the countryside of the Cordillera Region ,and site specific venues performed in Jail and penology centers with inmates as actors themselves. He directed a series of Performances in Japan, South Korea, Turkey, Belgium, Italy, with the Cordillera Green Network, showcasing the many folktales of Northern Philippines supported by Japan Foundation.

Awarded Best Director for a Children’s Musical play at the 28th Annual Aliw Awards.

Awarded Best Director and Best New Concept Production at the 30th Annual Aliw Awards.

His debut short film Operation Pukis was an official selection of the Montañosa Film Festival and Jury Prize Winner for Best Performance.

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Director Statement

Creating films empowers me. I worried that with my cancer diagnosis four years ago, i won’t be able to utilize this form of storytelling because of its ever changing landscape and competitive nature. But with some help of friends , and my grandmother’s push, I was able to complete a documentary and a short feature, two important bodies of work which paved the way to creating this monumental short, shot entirely during the hardest COVID lockdown with the help of so many people in the community. I’m honoring my grandmother in this film. She died before I was able to complete it, but I know her spirit helped to bind all these beautiful , healing , and inspiring things together .