I’M BEST LEFT INSIDE MY HEAD

I’M BEST LEFT INSIDE MY HEAD
by Elian Idioma

20 MINUTES | Dark Comedy

CAST
Elian Idioma, Lau Cortes, Aj Prudenciado, Glemuel Rigo, Romnic Calosor, Andrea Idioma

PRODUCTION
DIRECTOR/SCREENPLAY/CINEMATOGRAPHER/SOUND DESIGN – Elian Idioma
PRODUCTION DESIGN/PRODUCER – Gielian Matti
EDITOR – Hansel Jimenez
ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE – Zoilo Tolentino
SOUND DESIGN – Jannina Minglanilla
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS – Mike Idioma, Timi Idioma
CO-PRODUCER – Alexandra Dungca

LOGLINE
Alec Dominguez, a 20 something year old multi talented, multi-awarded-golden-boy- adopted by the–owners–of–gay-philantrophists has a reunion with his old buddies from his original home, The Dominguez Orphanage.

SYNOPSIS
Alec Dominguez, a 20-something-year-old multi-talented, multi-awarded-golden-boy—adopted by the owners of gay philanthropists—returns for a long-awaited reunion with his old buddies from his original home, The Dominguez Orphanage. He lingers outside, staring at the worn facade with a nostalgic expression, the smell of old wood and faint laundry drifting toward him, before an excited voice interrupts. It’s Boy Tao. They hug tightly, laughter hiding years of absence. Inside the plenary hall, Boy introduces him to the rest of the gang: Frueland, Edilberto, and Song Un, accompanied by his ever-literal translator, TRANSlator. Over dinner, the chatter flows warmly—at first. Yet Alec notices something off in the way they speak to him, almost like he’s a guest in a place that once felt like his own. One by one, questions dig deeper, centering on his life after adoption. Song Un drops a homophobic jab about Alec’s parents. Alec tries to respond, but Boy cuts him off with accusations and guilt. Then Jeppilon appears— burned, broken—a symbol of the orphanage’s neglect after Alec left. The guilt crushes him. In a violent vision, friends morph into a monstrous amalgamation tearing him apart. In reality, only Frueland and Edilberto remain, watching as Alec, smiling faintly, summons a guitar.

FILMMAKER’S PROFILE

ELIAN IDIOMA Productions, he is the head of the Atmos Music Department, and a sound editor. He has won Best Sound Design in the 2025 Puregold Cinepanalo Film Festival for the film Dela Cruz, Juan P. Directed by Sean Rafael Verdejo. Elian has also ventured into camera work. His cinematography on The World We Left, directed by Sean Romero, won best film at ALT-R Film Festival and was screened at SinePop in the YearnFest Night. He also DP-ed for a Mapuan thesis film titled Boy Wonder, which was included in the FDCP’s SFAP 2024 first cycle grant. He also won Best Cinematography for Siesta directed by Gielian Matti in the CAMVAS Interschool Film Festival in Cebu. Additionally, Elian writes and directs his own films, such as Tawa Na Lang Tayo, which earned recognition in Cinemalaya 2023 under the Next Gen Short Film Selection and I’m Best Left Inside My Head which won the Bronze award for Experimental Films in the Montanosa Film Festival.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

Being born into a family whose careers were built on film made an intriguing self imposed moral dilemma in my adolescent years. I put the fences of self censorship and over awareness to ensure that I always had my privilege checked and my morals sound. What resulted was an overthinking mess who worried about things that people normally shouldn’t. Will I become a reputable sound engineer? Will I just be that guy’s son? Am I just here because I was lucky enough? On the luck part, that’s just the plain truth and is the reason I made this film. It’s a depiction of what I would call a silly anxiety and how I feel my fears eat at me from inside my head. I get scared and feel guilt for those around me who don’t share the same cards. But when did guilt ever cure inequality anyway? In reality, some people might care and a lot more probably won’t. Maturing for me was realizing that self awareness is just a mere level-up from superficial. Unlocking sincerity to who you are is the real deep dive into the abyss that is your humanity.