The documentary serves as a tribute to National Artist for Cinema Gerardo de Leon in celebration of his Centennial Year. “Salamat sa Alaala.” is inspired by the music composed by the late film director when he was a teenager playing background music for silent movies in Manila theatres. The video opens up with a capsulated history of the birth of the Filipino movies followed by a series of shots of veteran actresses, the academe and the young generation of filmmakers affirming his unique qualities as a world-class film figure. Then we unravel his private life as a family man. The documentary is one way of thanking him for his lasting legacy in the art form he left behind.

In the final decades of the 20th century, the Philippines was a country where low-budget exploitation-film producers were free to make nearly any kind of movie they wanted, any way they pleased. It was a country with extremely lax labor regulations and a very permissive attitude towards cultural expression. As a result, it became a hotbed for the production of cheapie movies. Their history and the genre itself are detailed in this breezy, nostalgic documentary.

Alex Torres, a lawyer and part-time detective sent to Paris after the death of Alejandro Sarmiento to locate the heir to a 3 million peso inheritance. What should have been a straightforward search slowly pulls him into a small, restless world of jazz bars, runaways, and even unexpected love. Unbeknownst to him, Lili Gamboa was sent to watch his every move, though the assignment doesn’t stay simple once feelings start to get involved.

From low budget B movies to films that outlived trends, Eddie Romero did not wait for permission. He worked with what he had, trusted the story, and kept going. Take after take. Decade after decade. This is not a victory lap. It is a reminder that cinema moves forward because someone dares to try again.