Philippine cinema takes yet another step on the world stage with the selection of “Agapito,” directed by Arvin Belarmino and Kyla Danelle Romero, at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival’s Short Films – In Competition category. 

Joining “Agapito” at Cannes are “Ali” by Bangladeshi filmmaker Adnan Al Rajeev—also in collaboration with Belarmino and Romero—as well as the nine-hour-long “Magellan” by Lav Diaz.

Barring the inherent prestige that comes with being at the iconic film festival, “Agapito” too, makes history as the first project by a Filipina director selected in the short films category.

The new short film follows a group of pin setters in a duckpin bowling alley set in Bulacan. Leading the bunch is the bowling alley’s manager, Mira (played by Nour Hooshmand), who decides to close early due to a special occasion.

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Following the announcement that “Agapito” was selected for the film festival,  Romero wrote on Instagram, “I dedicate this to my late father. To you, papa Danny Romero. For raising me in a sports facility, surrounded by people who love what they do. Something that resonated when we made this story, set in a duckpin alley in Bulacan.”

Meanwhile, Belarmino posted, “This is a story where I became vulnerable, reflecting on how my family grounds me and keeps me from taking things for granted. A story that is dedicated to my brother Agapito Jay Ar Belarmino.”

Here, we caught up with the directing pair ahead of their flight to Cannes, where we talked about “Agapito” beyond the film and the events leading up to their return to the acclaimed film festival.

“Agapito” and a love letter to family

According to Romero, “Agapito” was always meant to be a film about the duckpin bowling community. But at first, the story initially written didn’t exactly resonate with the pair. “The first draft we came up with, parang hindi kami maka-connect pareho. Then eventually, we came up with ‘Agapito,’ and those personal touches are what made the film unique.”

For her, it was a childhood spent in a sports facility owned by her father and sportscaster, Danny Romero. “It’s also a chosen family kind of situation. Bukod sa by-blood ’yung main character and her brother, the duckpin alley workers are also a kind of family. We want the audience to feel that as well,” adds Romero.

As for Belarmino, he dedicates the film to his brother, who also has special needs. “Parang love letter ko ‘to sa kanya kasi sa dami ng ginagawa sa buhay as a filmmaker, minsan lang talaga kami nakakapagusap,” shares Belarmino. But above all else, he also wishes for the film to remind us not to take things for granted, especially with family.

“May mga bagay tayong nalalampasan—’yung mga maliit na detalye—kasi masyado tayong nakatingin sa mas malaking bagay.”

A dignified job

Last year, a mini-documentary called the “Pin boys of Marikina” made rounds on social media, highlighting the reality behind one of the few manually-operated duckpin bowling alleys in the Philippines. From the dangers of the job to the low pay workers receive, it would have been easy for Romero and Belarmino to capitalize on those facts and deliver an equally heart-wrenching narrative.

Yet for them, theirs is no sob story.

“It’s not a poverty job. It’s a dignified job,” says Belarmino. He recalls after one of their shoots, there was a competition where the elderly and even some local politicians participated. “Everyone was looking forward to it. And for [the alley workers] to be servants of that game, it’s their dream to be there. Masaya sila lahat dun.”

But isn’t that happiness itself a negative thing—something to pity?

Romero disagrees. Taking into consideration her unique background growing up in a sports facility, she’s always viewed bowling a “sosyal na sport.” “Nasa mall, ’yung mga bowling pins naka-automate.” A manual bowling alley, for her, is proof that the sport can be enjoyed by the masses, “na parang basketball na enjoy ng tao kahit sa tabi-tabi. ’Yung mga trabahador din we were asking them as well—they could take on other jobs, but they choose not to.”

Behind “Agapito”

For Belarmino, who’s largely focused on short films throughout his career, there was a chance “Agapito” would not have come to be.

“Ria,” his first feature film, has been in development and is set to shoot in June this year. But as fate would have it, before he directed his full attention to the full-length title, he was approached by 901 Studios if he could make a short. 

“Nagkita kami sa Cannes ni Jon Galvez [of 901 Studios], and he asked me if I could still make [“Agapito”]. Kaya, nagpaalam ako sa producer ko si Kristine De Leon.” 

As for why he enlisted Romero to co-direct, “Ilang beses na kami nagtrabaho as co-writers. But this time, I’m really excited to make this happen as co-directors.”

“Na-enjoy ko ’yung collaboration with other directors to produce unexpected visuals from two brains,” says Belarmino. “That’s my internal view on filmmaking. It’s not about this one guy, one director. It’s a collaborative effort involving everyone.”

Belarmino also shares that some of the actors in “Agapito” will also be present in his feature film. As such, he also took this opportunity to build a working relationship with them.

When asked if he’s putting short films behind, Belarmino explains that it will only be for a while. “Short film is my turf. I love making them. But this time, I have to face another challenge, which is understanding the animal of making feature films. I need to be a student again.”

Sharing a bit about their working dynamic, Romero describes it as a balancing act where one acts as the stabilizer when the other goes too wild. “Si Arvin kasi, he has a very vivid imagination when it comes to visuals. Sometimes I’m very anal about the details of a film, and si Arvin naman ’yung kumakalma sa akin doon. Apart from supporting each other’s visions and imagination, what I appreciate about collaborating with him is that we consult each other.”

It never gets old

Although this would be Romero’s third time in the Cannes Film Festival (first in 2023 for La Fabrique Cinéma, and in 2024 for the 63rd Cannes Critics’ Week short film competition), the feeling of excitement and eagerness never fades away. 

The same applies to Belarmino, even if he was the only one to miss the call from Cannes congratulating them on the selection.

Belarmino walks us through his Cannes journey and why his 2025 return is a little sweeter:

“’Yung first experience ko sa Cannes was in 2017. It gave me this passion and motivation to dream that someday, baka pwedeng ibigay ito sakin ng universe if I continued working hard. 

Eventually binigay siya sakin in 2022 with ‘Ria’ and in 2023, also with Kyla for the same project. 2024 was a game changer because I [had] two films, one at Directors’ Fortnight, and the other in exhibition in Critics’ Week. And this year, it’s so surreal because I will go back-to-back-to-back as a director, this time with the official selection. And how sweet it is for me to have this experience co-directing it with my partner.”

It doesn’t end with Cannes

Beyond the personal acclaim and recognition, Belarmino maintains that the Cannes selection remains a national achievement. “This is Filipino-produced from the cast and crew, all Filipinos—even the language and all its elements. For us to go back there and show the culture at ’yung elemento ng pagiging totoong Pilipino, sobrang laking bagay for us to share it with the world.”

As for Romero, attention surrounding “Agapito” and Filipino cinema shouldn’t start and end with selections on international festivals. “Unti-unting nabubuo ’yung boses ng Pilipinas sa world stage. That kind of exposure is what we need for us to continue supporting Philippine cinema, because it is worthy of our support and our engagement. If the world sees us, we should also see our own.”