As quarantine postponed a couple of shoots and closed some cinemas, experimenting with the medium of film became a more viable idea. Who’d forget Antonette Jadaone’s Instagram Live-based short of John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo? Creatives began documenting quarantine through their lenses, whether through self-shoots or Zoom skits.

So, there goes the prompt. If you’ve ever wanted a peek into your local filmmakers’ pandemic timeline, you’d realize they made films about it. 

Launched on Jan. 22, ECQ: Covid 19 Filmmakers Diaries or Eksena Cinema Quarantine gathered 16 Filipino filmmakers from all over the country to document their experiences during this ongoing dystopia—however they want to tell it. 

From directors’ actual bathrooms to bright and empty streets, being a fly on the wall of these visual diary entries will surely make everything a little bearable. Who doesn’t want some literal slice of life?

This virtual film fest is a collaboration between the National Commission for Culture and the Arts’ National Committee on Cinema and the University of St. La Salle. Among the filmmakers in the roster are Glenn Barit (“Cleaners”), Arden Rod Condez (“John Denver Trending”), Khavn (“Balangiga: Howling Wilderness”), Pam Miras (“Medusae”), Keith Deligero (“Babylon”) and more. The two omnibus films (Eksena parts one and two) feature eight short films each. 

On Vimeo, you can purchase each set at $5 (P1,200), but using the promo code “NCCACinema” allows you to watch for free. Set your alarms, as they’ll only be up until Jan. 28. 

Eksena PART 1 OF 2: Cinema Quarantine (COVID-19 Filmmakers’ Diaries) from Solar Pictures on Vimeo.

Peep the full list of films and filmmakers for Eksena Part 1 here and Eksena Part 2 here. 

Still from “Normal People”