Asog

QFFU x Hivos

Jaya is a non-binary teacher who lost their career as a comedian host of a late-night show due to the devastating Super Typhoon Yolanda. Asog follows Jaya and the young student Arnel as they meet each other and decide to travel together. Each with their own story and destination — Jaya wants to win a beauty pageant and its prize money, Arnel is looking for their family — their shared path and the people they meet along the way soon bring them closer together. 

All the actors are Filipinos who experienced and survived 2013 Super Typhoon Yolanda, which was one of the most intense storms ever recorded and claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people. As such, this one-of-a-kind film plays with the line between narrative and documentary to become something entirely new. Flipping the conventions of the road movie on its head, Asog is a stunning and profound ode to the power of solidarity amidst struggle.

Asog won this year’s Hivos “Free to be Me” Award. This prize is awarded annually to a film from a country where being yourself is not something that can be taken for granted. Especially in these places, it is extra courageous to make a film that portrays sexual and gender diversity.