HABANG NILALAMON NG HYDRA ANG KASAYSAYAN

HABANG NILALAMON NG HYDRA ANG KASAYSAYAN

(AS THE HYDRA DEVOURS HISTORY)

by Dustin Celestino

120 MINUTES | Existential Drama

CAST
Dolly de Leon, Jojit Lorenzo, Zanjoe Marudo, Mylene Dizon

PRODUCTION
DIRECTOR/SCREENPLAY – Dustin Celestino
CINEMATOGRAPHER – Kara Moreno
PRODUCTION DESIGN – Benjamin Padero, Carlo Tabije
EDITOR – John Rogers
ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE – Paulo Protacio
SOUND DESIGN – Nicole Rosacay, Michaela A. Docena
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS – Nathan Studios, Maria Sophia Atayde-Marudo, Jossette C. Atayde, Kayan, Nessa S. Valdellon, Roscelyn Domingo
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS – Karen Toyoshima, Zyu Maria Chio, & Grace Ann Bodegon-Casimsiman
PRODUCER – Janel Gutierrez Celestino
LINE PRODUCER – Rea Robles
PRODUCTION MANAGER – Mary Zapata
ASSISTANT DIRECTORS – Toni Go-Yadao, Joshua Tayco
VFX ARTISTS – Jericho Layson, Hanns Scheewe
COLORIST – Lester Brutas
KEY ART DESIGNER – Justin Besana

LOGLINE
Four Filipinos confront the slow erasure of memory and truth in a country devoured by disinformation.

SYNOPSIS
Four Filipinos cope with life after a painful political defeat. Kiko, a political strategist, questions the purpose of his lifelong struggle. Bea, a history professor, attempts to teach a past her country would rather forget. David, a disillusioned speechwriter, becomes entrapped by the very lies he tries to challenge. Mela, an election lawyer, confronts family secrets she has long avoided. Each one searches for purpose as truths fade, histories blur, and memory itself becomes an act of defiance.

FILMMAKER’S PROFILE

DUSTIN CELESTINO is a multi-awarded Filipino filmmaker, playwright, and educator whose work has been recognized across film, theater, and literature. His film Ang Duyan ng Magiting won the Special Jury Prize and Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble Acting at the 2023 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival, was nominated for seven Gawad Urian Awards including Best Picture, and was one of seven films shortlisted as the Philippines’ official entry to the 96th Academy Awards. His earlier film Utopia (2019), which he wrote and directed for the Cinema One Originals Film Festival, earned him nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay and received the Special Jury Prize. From 2017 to 2024, Celestino won six Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for his plays Ang Pangahas na si Pepe Rodriguez, The Story of this Father, Ang Duyan ng Magiting, The Lost Filipino Patriots of America, Fermata, and Birdie. He has also been recognized by the DLSU Annual Literary and Visual Arts Awards, receiving the Certificate of Excellence four times for his early literary works. A regular fixture at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Virgin Labfest, he has staged four notable plays over seven years: Mga Eksena sa Buhay ng Kontrabida, Doggy, Fermata, and Ang Munting

Liwanag sa Isang Madilim na Sulok ng Isang Serbeserya sa Maynila. Celestino is also a fellow of prestigious programs such as the Found Story School of Filmmaking, Ricky Lee Screenwriting Workshop, HOOQ Filmmakers’ Guild, and various national writers workshops including the Ateneo National Writers’ Workshop, IYAS La Salle National Writers’ Workshop, and the Silliman University National Writers Workshop.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

“Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan” is a film about hope; how it is lost and how it is regained. In our story, characters confront the devastating loss of hope brought on by recent events that shatter their belief in a fair and just world. With this loss, they find it difficult to act, to believe, and even to love. Yet it is precisely in these moments of despair that our film seeks tograpple with a profound question:

“Why should one make personal sacrifices to do good in a world that rewards evil?”

Our answer is this:

“Because only in doing good do we create meaning and beauty in chaos.”

When hope can no longer be found in the outside world, it must come from within, not as a fleeting emotion, but as a creative and defiant decision; a divine will to create light out of darkness. Hope inspires us to act, to believe, and to love. So even if the struggle against evil and injustice lasts a lifetime, a life lived with love, belief, and action toward goodness is a life of immeasurable value and meaning.

Through this film, we aim to remind our audience—especially Filipinos burdened by injustice and disillusionment—that hope is not just a gift; it is a choice. Our film is a call to live with purpose in the face of despair, to find strength in our shared humanity, and to create light even when surrounded by shadows. This is the message I hope to impart, a message I believe resonates deeply with what many Filipinos need to hear today.