A promise made to parents becomes a child's entire world — shot in one day, filmed by kids.
Gabon, taken from an old Maranao folk lullaby which means “cloud,” tells the story of how far a young Maranao girl takes to heart the promise to her parents that she will finish a school exam. Shot in one day in Marawi, Lanao del Sur, just before the Ramadan, Gabon features an ensemble cast of grades 2-4 students from the MSU Integrated Laboratory School and the alumni of Sining Kambayoka
Direction
One-day shoot in pre-Ramadan Marawi — controlled chaos made poetic.
Production
Entirely non-professional child cast from local schools.
Writing
Folk lullaby as narrative spine — deceptively simple.
Director
Emmanuel A. dela Cruz
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Sining Kambayoka is a legendary Maranao theater group preserving Meranaw culture through performance — this film extends their work to cinema.
Emmanuel dela Cruz shot this between commercial gigs, using the same guerrilla methods as the Mindanao theater tradition that trained his cast.
PH
