Sisa

Local title
Sisa
Original title
Sisa
Director
Jun Robles Lana
Year
2025
Festival
29th Black Nights Film Festival
Programme
Genre
Subject

Her silence was survival. Her madness, a weapon. Her mission: revenge.

The Philippines, 1902. The land is raw, wounded, occupied. Smoke clings to the trees. Blood soaks the soil. The war is over – but the violence lingers. Widows fill the villages. Mothers vanish into silence. Among them walks Sisa (Hilda Koronel), barefoot and broken, dismissed as mad by those who fear what they don't understand. But madness is only the surface.

Beneath the rags and ramblings, Sisa hides a secret: she is a spy. A survivor. A mother robbed of everything but rage. Haunted by visions she cannot silence, she begins to lead a quiet revolt – gathering women who, like her, have been pushed to the margins. As betrayal coils around her, Sisa walks the line between memory and madness, asking what it takes to rise when the world has already buried you.

Returning to Tallinn after his acclaimed “About Us But Not About Us”, Jun Robles Lana shifts from the intimate to the epic. With his signature emotional precision and a searing performance by Hilda Koronel, “Sisa” is both a historical thriller and an urgent elegy.

Milani Perera

Director
Jun Robles Lana
Screenwriter
Jun Robles Lana
Cast
Hilda Koronel, Eugene Domingo, Jennica Garcia, Tanya Gomez, Angellie Sanoy, Barbara Miguel, Jorrybell Agoto, Janina Mendoza
Producer
Ferdinand Lapuz, Percival Intalan, Jun Robles Lana, Josabeth V. Alonzo
Co-producer
Enrico A. Roque, Jaime G. Baltazar, Win Maw, Lord Allan Velasco, Jose Ronald V. Valles, Gilmer D. Roque
Cinematographer
Carlo Canlas Mendoza
Production Design
Jay Lorenz Conanan
Editing
Lawrence Ang
Music
Teresa Barrozo
Sound
Ditoy Aguila, Lamberto Casas Jr., Alex Tomboc
Production
The Ideafirst Company
Co production
Octobertrain Films, Quantum Films
Editing
Quantum Films
Runtime
Subtitles
Director
Jun Robles Lana

Jun Robles Lana (1972) graduated from the University of Santo Tomas with a degree in Communication Arts. He is the youngest Filipino to be inducted in the Palanca Literary Awards (Philippines’ equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize) Hall of Fame. His first indie film, “Bwakaw”, won several international awards and was screened at Toronto, New York and Tokyo film festivals and was the Philippines’ Oscar entry for Best Foreign Film in 2012. His 18th full-length film, “Kalel, 15”, won the Best Director Award at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival Official Selection. His two last films, “Big Night” (2021) and “Your Mother’s Son” (2023), have also participated in PÖFF competition programmes.
Filmography:
(valik/selected): Gigil (2006), Bwakaw (2012), The Panti Sisters (2019), Kalel, 15 (PÖFF 2019), Big Night (Viimane võimalus PÖFF 2021), Anak Ka Ng Ina Mo (Sinu ema poeg, 2023), Sisa (2025)

Grand Prix for The Best Film, grant of 20 000 euros from the city of Tallinn, Award for Best Director, grant of 5000€ from Alexela

Screenings

1st Lux Hall Apollo Kino Plaza
Screening140121 / Sisa
SubtitlesEnglish, Estonian
Q&A guestsJun Robles Lana (Director, Producer, Screenwriter), Percival Intalan (Producer), Hilda Koronel (Cast)
Q&A duration
Screening duration
Screening163021 / Sisa
SubtitlesEnglish, Estonian
Screening duration
Screening170917 / Sisa
SubtitlesEnglish, Estonian
Screening duration
Trailer