Dir. Shireen Seno
2012, Philippines, 89 min
Tagalog with English subtitles
America has “liberated” the islands, and the Philippines has just been proclaimed a new republic. Every morning, at the crack of dawn, Father and Mother stretch Julio, pulling his limbs in opposite directions. He is made to drink a concoction made from the liver of codfish, believed to stimulate growth in children. He stands in the blazing heat of the sun. The family swells in size to six children. Father hunts for food while Mother tends to domestic duties, leaving Julio and his siblings alone, exposed to their lush natural environs. Soon enough, the youngest two are taken away and distributed amongst the two aunts without offspring of their own. Meanwhile, Julio’s remarkable height is used to advertise his parents’ homemade growth concoction.
Big Boy chronicles the growth of a family, the myths of progress that consume them, and the violence not just in war and colonization but also that which is inherent in coming into being—for a boy, a man, and a nation.
Plays with Trunks
Dir. Shireen Seno
2013, Philippines, 1 min
Tagalog with English subtitles
A short piece depicting the encounters of various trunks.
Plays with To Pick a Flower
Dir. Shireen Seno
2021, Philippines, 17 min
A video essay incorporating archival photographs from the American Colonial Era in the Philippines (1898–1946), exploring the sticky relationship between humans and nature and its entanglements with empire.
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