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Khavn De La Cruz is a poet, pianist, visual artist, and Father of Philippine Digital Filmmaking—has made 52 features and 115 short films. His films have screened at the MoMA, Guggenheim, Tate, Venice Architecture Biennale. He has presented retrospectives of his films, curated programs on Lino Brocka and the Philippine New Wave for Viennale, Cph:dox, Sharjah Biennale, and Edinburgh; and lectured in various international film festivals. He is the president of the film, music, & publishing label Kamias Overground and festival director of .Mov, the first digital film festival in the Philippines.

Here are his top ten Philippine films, in chronological order.

1. Prinsesa Naranja [Princess Naranja] (1960) — Nemesio E. Caravana

Three Romantic Stories in a great epic as colorful as it is magnificent.

2. Elias, Basilio, & Sisa (1972) — Jun Aristorenas

3. Si Popeye, Atbp. [Popeye, Etc.] (1973) — Ishmael Bernal, Joey Gosiengfiao, Elwood Perez

Si Popeye, atbp (Popeye etc.) is an unofficial Popeye film released in the Philippines in 1973. A live-action film,...

Is it an impossibly sad hour in this lonely, pathetic little world when a guy who claims to be an aficionado of cinema boldly declares that a picture as goofy as Eddie Nicart’s surreal 1981 action/comedy “For Your Height Only” renewed his interest in the medium? If so, hang your heads and mourn the minutes, dear readers, for Weng Weng is responsible for saving this wayward sheep’s wavering cinematic soul. The film — and I use that term loosely — is, at its core, a cheap, one-note exploitation job featuring rising cult icon Weng Weng, a two-foot-nine Filipino martial artist who seemingly has the ability to slide across smooth surfaces with the speed, grace, and agility of a buttered baked potato. The story is utterly senseless; all you really need to know is that Agent 00 is hot on the trail of a shady organized crime syndicate which seeks to peddle cheap drugs to innocent,...