Tondo, Beloved: To What Are the Poor Born? is an exploration of life before birth in the seams of Manila's main intemational port. Virgie Simpron's family feeds on the fishes that lurk under the industrial ships of North Harbor. Their alternatives are packs of tasteless gelatin found in the same waters. Their entertainment comes from imagining stories behind DVD inlays of Hollywood films and a tabloid article on Hillary Clinton and a rat's ass. One morning when the fishes are dead, the sea's color is that of milk and the ships' clanging are unusually bold; uncertainty is born on the same floor where they eat, blood is spilt in the same bowl where they clean fish and an old weary nation is revealed.

Directed and produced by Jewel Maranan
Supported by: Tondo Forshoreland People's Alliance, National Commission for Culture and the Arts