Set against the landscapes of Toledo City and the Municipality of Pinamungajan, Cebu, “Bato’ng Bunga,” an official selection of the 9th Sine Kabataan Film Lab & Festival, follows a family caring for a father — a former miner whose body gradually turns to stone.
Writer and director Elj Seth Tababa, whose roots trace back to Lamac, Pinamungajan, employs magic realism to weave a haunting narrative about the lasting effects of mining on families and communities left behind by mining companies. Drawing from the stories of his hometown and the experience of his own grandfather, who developed a skin condition after years of working in the mines, Tababa crafts a deeply personal and poignant reflection on labor and survival and the human cost of extraction.
“The mine does not remember his name, but I remember him. He is the reason why I started this project in the first place,” Tababa said, referring to his grandfather’s influence on the project.
For Tababa, Cebu’s rural landscapes as places that have long been shaped by extraction, where both the land and the people who work it are both consumed by the industry. In “Bato’ng Bunga,” this reality is embodied through the metaphor of turning into stone — a representation of miners’ bodies being consumed by labor, trapped within systems they cannot escape. Through this process, the film asks the question: what happens when a body can no longer endure?
The production is led by producer Jon Owen Lepiten, who helmed the Sine Kabataan 8 Jury Prize winner “Sunog Sa Sugbo.” Tababa first appeared at the festival as the lead actor in Lepiten’s film. “Bato’ng Bunga” marks their second collaboration, this time with Tababa stepping into the director’s chair and Lepiten serving as producer.
“Bato’ng Bunga” will premiere at the 9th Sine Kabataan Film Lab & Festival as part of the Philippine Film Industry Month celebration this September 2026. PR