A story about a ten-year-old boy whose dream is to become a movie star. Pepot, the dreamer, is surrounded by people who are equally dazzled by the movie world from his own mother to the principal in his school to the impersonators in the neighborhood carnival. Coming from a poor family, Pepot overcomes adversity to have a chance at fulfilling his dream. He tackles school bullies, a strict teacher, and an unwelcoming world that fail to comprehend his intense desire to become a star. The story happens in the '70s when superstars brightened the film world in Pepot's country.

The long-standing conflict between the military forces and the rebel group Abu Sayaff has severely ravaged the poor town of Patikul in Sulu. Residents have become so accustomed to the armed clashes, that reports of kidnappings and recruitment of young Tausugs to join the rebel groups already became normal news to them. However, Amman, a 33 year old coffee farmer in Sitio Kan-Ague, continues to believe that there is still hope for their town. Amman believes that educating his children would change their present situation.

Inya, a heroine of the Philippine resistance against the Japanese during World War II, recalls events involving her husband Edilberto and their childhood friend Ignacio, a transvestite who, masquerading as a woman also named Inya, becomes the lover of the local Japanese commander, Ichiru, and is caught between a duty to be a spy for his country and friends and his reluctant but growing love for Ichiru.

Florencia, the matriarch of the Filipinas family, is in poor health, and Yolanda, the eldest of the Filipinas children, finds herself in the unenviable position of keeping her bickering family from disintegration. As the tension rises, Yolanda seeks refuge in a local church. She is critically injured trying to break up a nasty fight between brothers Emman and Samuel, forcing her family to make a life-changing decision.