Teenage Sita stands on a Philippine beach and confesses to her mother she nearly drowned there as a child. Her mother, who never learned to swim, joins her as they transform into half-fish, half-human figures and revisit the memory. Set against the contested West Philippine Sea, the film blends their intimate reflections with testimonies from fisherfolk whose lives have been disrupted by Chinese occupation and resource depletion. Through poetic imagery and quiet resistance, the film delicately illuminates intergenerational trauma, identity, and belonging, culminating in the declaration: "We’ll never drown."

Much like the maritime dispute between Korea and Japan, there is a contested sea known to the Chinese as the “South China Sea” and to Filipinos as the “West Philippine Sea”—a region where nations vie for fishing rights and control over vital shipping lanes. Following a 2012 naval operation, China imposed a blockade on what had once been freely accessible waters. 

Narrated by Sita, a young girl haunted by memories of nearly drowning, Objects Do Not Randomly Fall From the Sky threads together the human toll of China’s occupation: the depletion of marine life, the destruction of livelihoods, and the slow violence of displacement. The film blends deep-blue–tinted imagery, distorted sound, and stop-motion animation to conjure the oppressive specter of colonial power and its marginalization of Indigenous communities. Interweaving memory, loss, and quiet resilience, it renders a stark and haunting visual testament to the struggle for survival—and to the right simply to exist—in a contested sea.

THE PHILIPPINES IS OURS

• ProducerGale OSORIO
• Screenplay Maria Estela PAISO
• Cinematography Eric BICO
• Edit Maria Estela PAISO
• Sound Lawrence ANG, Yügen BEI BEI
• Music Kashira
• Cast Leonardo CUARESMA, Joel ELEJORDE, Luis FONTILLA, Ranel MADELA, Rea Jane REALIZO

Archipelago Lab​

​galeosorio.ph@gmail.com​

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