chickenligaya | WatchedThis
chickenligaya
Directing
Biography
With multiple roots in Visayan islands, Ligaya Villablanca is a media practitioner, a descendant of a pre-colonial buang, and a believer of regional cinema. As an alumna of BFA Cinema from University of San Carlos, they were an officer of CINEMATA for three consecutive years; Founded the regional film initiative, Moving Eyelands PH; and was a participant of Cinema Without Borders Southeast Asia Workshop, DAKILA Heroes Hub 2023, and QCinema Critics Lab 2024. They have served as Jury in multiple film festivals since 2021 and have received the Alexis Tioseco and Nika Bohinc Award from QCinema International Film Festival 2024. Their directorial works are all manifestations of their inter-island wandering mind that explores the themes of ethnolinguistic identity and collective grief in their own humorous flavor. Currently based in Quezon City pursuing UPD’s MS Media Arts (Film) and daydreaming about Shrek.
Filmography Movies
Acting
Age of Blight
In Age of Blight, 12 Asian filmmakers capture and imagine life under the pandemic, from the hospital corridors of Marawi to protest rallies in the streets of Bangkok. The film mirrors light amidst the chaos and darkness, life in the face of death. Participating filmmakers are Mervine Aquino (Philippines), Bagane Fiola (Philippines), Daniel Rudi Haryanto (Indonesia), Hassanodden Hashim (Philippines), Gladys Ng (Singapore), Nontawat Numbenchapol (Thailand), Carla Pulido Ocampo (Philippines), Edmund Telmo (Philippines), Mark Lester Valle (Philippines), Ligaya Villablanca (Philippines), Takayuki Yoshida (Japan), and Abdul Zainidi (Brunei). Edited and assembled by John Torres (Philippines).
Where are the films in Leyte?
Based on a SINEGANG.ph article of the same name, this meta-documentary follows two aspiring Leyteño filmmakers as they set out to explore and document the film scene in Leyte (or the lack thereof). As their project unfolds, the region’s cinematic void begins to weigh on them, testing their passion and leading them down a path of growing frustration and disillusionment.
Production
Age of Blight
In Age of Blight, 12 Asian filmmakers capture and imagine life under the pandemic, from the hospital corridors of Marawi to protest rallies in the streets of Bangkok. The film mirrors light amidst the chaos and darkness, life in the face of death. Participating filmmakers are Mervine Aquino (Philippines), Bagane Fiola (Philippines), Daniel Rudi Haryanto (Indonesia), Hassanodden Hashim (Philippines), Gladys Ng (Singapore), Nontawat Numbenchapol (Thailand), Carla Pulido Ocampo (Philippines), Edmund Telmo (Philippines), Mark Lester Valle (Philippines), Ligaya Villablanca (Philippines), Takayuki Yoshida (Japan), and Abdul Zainidi (Brunei). Edited and assembled by John Torres (Philippines).
Fuck, I Want to Go Home
It is the year 2020, it is Joi’s last few months in Cebu. Her father, an engineer working on quarantine centers in Leyte, converses with her throughout the months.
Good Morning, Let's Fight
Intoxicated from their unspoken pasts, two souls from different islands of the Philippines cross path and continues the night forward in question of who or what is truly dead.
Good Morning, Let's Fight
Intoxicated from their unspoken pasts, two souls from different islands of the Philippines cross path and continues the night forward in question of who or what is truly dead.
Action!
The film is set in 2019. A small film crew is standing by as its members prepare for a shoot. The director says action and the timeline jumps. A 60-year-old cinephile spends his last days selling original copies, also the only copies, of Cebuano films just outside the entrance of a theater in downtown Cebu. A group of “tanods” wants to rid the sidewalk of illegal vendors like him. The film goes back to the small crew in modern times.
Inday Opil Goes to Heaven
Inday Opil navigates the afterlife, eager to reach heaven. She must first embark on a journey untangling the weave of fate to be where she is meant to be.
Inday Opil Goes to Heaven
Inday Opil navigates the afterlife, eager to reach heaven. She must first embark on a journey untangling the weave of fate to be where she is meant to be.