INDEPENDENCIA

At the beginning of American rule in the Philippines, a mother and her son run off to the mountains to live in peace and isolation. One day the son finds a pregnant woman in the woods and brings her home. His mother disapproves and distances herself from them, eventually growing old and passing on. In the meantime, the son develops a relationship with the pregnant woman, who gives birth to a baby boy.

Years later, the boy believes to have seen a sign of the Saviour. Father and son set out to the woods to find an amulet that would save their lives. As the monsoon rains threaten the landscape, the entire family faces their individual battles for survival; the father’s growing blindness, the mother’s loneliness, and the son’s curiousity of the world beyond the mountains.

As the harsh weather claims both parents’ lives, and the American troops discover him, the boy is forced to face his true identity.