Award-winning documentarist Baby Ruth Villarama released the teaser for her much-anticipated film Food Delivery: Fresh from the West Philippine Sea, her entry into the 2025 Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival, and what seeks to be a strong contender for multiple awards at the country’s fastest-rising film fest.
According to Villarama, the film, which harkens to the current maritime conflict between the Philippines and China, is ultimately a story about empathy. “We want the audience to understand that sovereignty is not just a political issue; it’s a deeply personal one for every Filipino,” says Villarama, “From the fishermen risking their lives to feed their families, to the Coast Guard and Navy personnel delivering food to the soldiers on remote outposts, Food Delivery illustrates the shared sacrifice and the collective love we all have to protect our way of life.”
Villarama is best known for her documentary Sunday Beauty Queen which won Best Picture at the 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival. Outside of Sunday Beauty Queen, Villarama has also been involved for over a decade in international co-productions as a producer and documentary director for local and international news organizations. Many of the documentaries co-produced by Villarama take a socially-conscious angle, and as such, have been featured in international festivals in Cannes, Berlin, Venice, and others.
Outside of her filmmaking work, Baby Ruth Villarama is also a distinguished academic, having earned a master’s degree in film marketing and distribution from Birmingham City University in the United Kingdom as part of the highly-competitive Chevening Scholarship program. Because of her efforts, she also won the 2018 UK Global Alumni Social Impact Award because of the way her films explore the concepts of migration and modern-day slavery. Villarama also uses her spare time in serving as a board member of the Director’s Guild of the Philippines, as a member of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts’ cinema committee, and as a member of the Voyage Studious and Film Producers Society that seeks to push Filipino directors to greater heights.
With a resume such as hers, Villarama is evidently one of the odds-on favorites to bag multiple awards at the 2025 Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival. And with the release of the teaser for Food Delivery, it’s easy to see why.
The teaser begins with the visual of a simple fishing boat innocuously bobbing along the ocean waves. That is, until the camera sinks beneath the water, revealing an overwhelming amount of fish, and signaling to the overwhelming burden placed on the fishermen assigned to catch them. The teaser then moves to a more ominous visual - two boats, a fishing boat and a coast guard ship, carrying the Philippine flag - before ending with the titular statement: “fresh from the West Philippine Sea.”
In speaking on such a delicate subject matter, Baby Ruth Villarama has described Food Delivery as a film about unity, sacrifice, and the Filipino spirit. According to Villarama, what she hopes 2025 Puregold CinePanalo audiences find in her film is a sense of empathy and connection to the people who are often unseen in protecting our food, and by extension, our sovereignty.
With such an important film on its hands, the 2025 Puregold CinePanalo has already delivered on its promise to build on what was an impressive debut for the festival just last year. Outside of Food Delivery, this year’s CinePanalo has an impressive lineup of directors fighting for the top prizes in what has quickly become one of the country’s most prestigious film festivals. Joining Food Delivery in the full-length category are JP Habac’s Olsen’s Day, Christian Paolo Lat’s Journeyman, Mes de Guzman’s Sepak Takraw, Jill Singson Urdaneta’s Co-Love, Catsi Catalan’s Fleeting, TM Malones’ Salum, and Tara Illenberger’s Tigkiliwi. In addition, twenty-five student directors will be competing in the Puregold CinePanalo’s annual student shorts category.
The 2025 Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival will run from March 14-25 at the Gateway Cineplex 18 in Cubao, Quezon City.
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