password: sentrorizalfilmclub
Director’s Statement
I grew up listening to radio dramas. My awareness of the region’s cultural landscape began there. But what happens when the small regional stations behind these stories face unstable labor and declining support? What happens when their sounds turn to silence?
Told through an acousmatic, sound-driven, radiohybrid form, the film follows radio drama artists who disappear physically yet persist through the airwaves, suspended between broadcast frequency and memory. Structured like a radio drama, the film gradually minimizes image and foreground sound; static, ambient noise, fragmented transmissions to examine loss, labor, and death.
As creative workers are pushed to endure rather than grow, their labor is sustained by passion while structural exhaustion remains unseen. The film reflects this reality through artists whose work continues even as their presence fades. When they become voiceless, who will speak for them?
Daniel de la Cruz, 25, is an independent filmmaker from Iloilo and a member of the Guimbal iFilm Society. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA in Broadcasting from West Visayas State University in 2023.
In 2024, he was a fellow of the Filipino Scriptwriters Guild (FSG) Regional Lab, with the same project later selected for the Directors Guild of the Philippines’ National Film Pitch Competition.
De la Cruz’ directorial debut, Ang Bistida Ni Ana Sa Mata Nga Pula, won the Grand Prize and Best Work for Children at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ 35th Gawad Alternatibo in 2023.
His mobile short film, Ang Gadya Sang Suba, received multiple distinctions, including recognition at Oscar M. Lopez’s Mga Kwento ng Klima, Best Festival Film at the Montañosa Film Festival (MFF), and Best Short Film (Open Category) at Sinag Maynila 2025.
His recent short film, Hasang, was a finalist at the 21st Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival, where it won the NETPAC Award for Best Short Film. It also received the Jury Prize at the Binisaya International Film Festival and a Special Mention at the Ngilngig Asian Film Festival.
In celebration of Buwan ng Wika, the Philippine Consulate General in Calgary shares Sentro Rizal Film Club’s “Katung Adlaw Nga Nadula Sa Kahanginan” (That Day When I Went Off Air), a 16-minute short film spoken in Hiligaynon with English subtitles.
The film is intended for general mature audiences and offers an opportunity to appreciate the richness of Philippine languages and storytelling through cinema.
Please visit our website at https://calgarypcg.ca/sentro-rizal-film-club/
or http://canva.link/SRFilmClubJuly2026 (password: sentrorizalfilmclub)
International Cultural Programs
Building on the success of last year’s launch, the Sentro Rizal is proud to once again introduce the Sentro Rizal Film Club – a monthly showcase of carefully curated Filipino films for Filipinos around the world.
For this year’s inaugural screening, the Sentro Rizal Film Club proudly present “Katung Adlaw nga Nadula Ako sa Kahanginan” (The Day I Went Off Air), a captivating Hiligaynon radio-film hybrid short by emerging writer and director Daniel dela Cruz.
This innovative piece creatively blends traditional radio storytelling with visual cinema, offering a unique visual viewing experience. But there’s more, it gives spotlight to the unheard stories of AM radio drama voice talents who entertains thousands of listeners but are usually neglected behind the scenes.
Watch the film, share and discuss with your friends. Plus, check out the newly-designed Sentro Rizal Film Club digital guide to know more about our featured film!
Watch film here:
http://canva.link/SRFilmClubJuly2026
password: sentrorizalfilmclub
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