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Director’s Profile

Sheron Dayoc was raised a Protestant, attended a Catholic school, and grew up in the Muslim-Christian town of Zamboanga, in Philippines.
A Sundance Institute fellow since 2011, he was invited to the Next Masters Program at Tokyo FILMeX Festival 2010 and attended the Asian Film Academy at Busan International Film Festival 2008.
Sheron’s latest film, Women of the Weeping River (2016), won Best Picture - Circle Competition the Qcinema International Film Festival 2016, in the Philippines. The film received support from the Sundance Institute, Asian Cinema Fund, Hubert Bals Fund, and was selected for various pitching forums.
His full-length documentary feature, The Crescent Rising (2015), won the BIFF Mecenat Award at Busan International Film Festival 2016, as well as various other local awards.
Ways of the Sea (aka Halaw, 2010), his debut feature-length film, won the NETPAC Award Special Mention at Berlin International Film Festival 2011, and the NETPAC Development Prize at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2011, in Australia, and has been invited to screen and compete at more than 40 international film festivals across Asia, Europe, the US, South America, and Australia.
Sheron is also founder of Southern Lantern Studios, a creative think tank and production company for short and long film and video content across a variety of platforms.

Synopsis

Those with power decide who lives and who dies.
Two sisters, Fairuz (in her early twenties) and Raiza (a teenager), inherit their older brother Latip’s job as an underground hit-man. There is no hope of escape for the two, as Latip, who had been in his mid-twenties, had already accepted advance payment. The sisters must conceal their brother’s death from everyone, as those in power in the community would otherwise surely crush them.
Along with some teenage boys, Fairuz and Raiza are absorbed into a secret group and trained as assassins for the intelligence division of the Philippine Military, assigned to kill targeted criminals extrajudicially, and carry out hits for powerful business clients.
Fairuz wishes to spare Raiza from the life of an assassin, but as they both become mired in incident after incident, the two find themselves beginning to enjoy the adrenalin rush of killing.
The sisters’ grip on reality is further disturbed by a talismanic, elemental creature from the sea, and by the ghost of their dead brother, Latip. Rather than portraying a psychological thriller, this story showcases Filipinos’ tendency to deal with their personal demons through folk beliefs.
In the Philippines, assassins are created through childhood oppression, their traumatic experiences capitalized upon by those in power in the government. Teenagers are trained in use of arms, tactics and strategy, taught how to prey upon their victims and, above all, taught blind obedience.
Destitute children are the future beasts of the state, power-hungry leaders are evil gods, and no one dares to challenge them.

Achievements

2023 Tokyo International Film Festival - In Competition
2023 International Film Festival of India
2024 Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival - Golden Star Award, Young Critics Award
2024 Bali International Film Festival - In Competition
2024 Zlin International Film Festival for Children and Youth
2024 Minneapolis St Paul International Film Festival

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