News

The global impact of traditional tattooing and the need to end its stigma is explored in upcoming feature-documentary “Treasure of the Rice Terraces,” directed by Filipino-Canadian Kent Donguines.

The film sees Donguines embark on a journey of self-discovery and record the oral history recounted by 106-year-old Indigenous tattoo artist Apo Whang-Od, who was recently an unlikely cover star of Vogue Philippines.

The film explores how the old practises in the Kalinga region, once banned and despised in Philippine society, have now evolved into a chic and in-demand type of body art that has become a source of pride and belonging for many Filipinos. It also delves into the issues of stolen mummified bodies, cultural appropriation, stigmatization, and discrimination faced by tattooed individuals.

Now shooting in Manila and the mountainous Kalinga region, the film is directed by Donguines and written by Donguines and Zlatina Pacheva (“Run the Burbs,” “Kim’s Convenience”).

“Treasure...

The animated series Recess from the '90s, which was spun off into a number of direct-to-video movies and one big screen endeavor called" Recess: School's Out, is getting a continuation from independent filmmakers, as a short fan film sequel to the show is currently in the works.

Now procuring its budget by way of crowdfunding, the project comes from Jerome Yoo and Kent Donguines with a script by Zlatina Pacheva. The Recess sequel will bring back all of the kids we remember seeing from the classic cartoon, only now they're in high school dealing with the issues older teenagers face as they head towards graduation and adulthood. Oh, and we should also mention the movie will be live-action, depicting how the older versions of the characters would look after moving on from junior high.

First airing in 1997 as a part of ABC's One Saturday Morning cartoon block, Disney...