Private Project

We Do Not Exist Here (Wala Mi Diri)

Kara witnesses the unfolding of an undisclosed period of Philippine history where people take to the streets to support a mysterious procedure known only to "liberate the people"

  • Origane Films
    Producer
  • A + A
    Producer
  • Anna Miguel Cervantes
    Story, Director, Editor, Production Design
  • Queenie Lyne Demoral
    Key Cast
  • Earl Autida
    Key Cast
  • Bagane Fiola
    Directors of Photography
  • Princess Taroza
    Directors of Photography
  • Kit Janbren
    Sound Design & Score
  • Roel Rosaroso
    Production Sound
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Wala Mi Diri
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Sci-fi, Drama
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes 44 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 18, 2020
  • Country of Origin:
    Philippines
  • Country of Filming:
    Philippines
  • Language:
    Cebuano, English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography

Before Anna Miguel Cervantes became a full-time freelance text and moving images-maker, she worked in children's rights and has immersive knowledge on peacebuilding in conflict areas in Mindanao, Philippines.

Her filmography includes—Baboy Halas: Wailings in the Forest by Bagane Fiola (writer), Pulangui by Bagane Fiola (production design), Ang Pagbalik sa Ugat-Hinungdan by Keisha Halili (production design), Octogod by Shievar Olegario (assistant director).

We Do Not Exist Here (Wala Mi Diri) is her debut short film.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

It was once said that everything we do will be done over and over again, for the rest of eternity.

The film is a surface-level exploration of flawed systems: the flawed state, a flawed revolution, flawed technology, and the flawed self.

The worldwide health emergency affected the film's post-production, and the whirlwind of uncertainty magnified the systems around us as they collapsed, seemingly collapsed, or is collapsing as we speak. I found that, as a whole, the film I wrote before the pandemic is still the film I carried on until the end. And I felt reassured—though I ought not to be—of how fragile all these systems are, and yet the panic is all-too-familiar. As if we've been here before, as if our collective unconscious knows this all too well, only that we've learned so little in the end.

As I began, and until the end: it is an attempt to portray the placid dawn of a personal revolution. It is a personal note on the struggle—the eternal struggle.