PHILIPPINES, 2014, DIGITAL VIDEO, 143 MIN

On November 8, 2013, super typhoon Yolanda smashed into the Philippines. With sustained winds of 316 kph and gusts as powerful as 380 kph the storm was one of the most powerful and destructive in recorded history, killing more than 6,000 people and injuring over 28,000 while leaving millions homeless or displaced.

Internationally acclaimed and award-winning director Lav Diaz documents the aftermath of the event by follow- ing children as they play in the storm-flooded streets,dig in the refuse and rubble of a sun-scorched beach or meander past the hulls of beached ships and makeshift housing along the shore. The activities of the boys and girls are sometimes focused and at others haphazard, but the cameras unrelenting attention to their tasks gives us time to observe the post-apocalyptic surround- ings in which they exist.

A master of epic narrative filmmaking, Diaz avoids drama and pathos when recording the actions of these children. His restraint and generosity serve to show the subjects of this documentary not as helpless victims but as courageous and resourceful people making their way through impossible circumstances.