Living Digitally In Polar Worlds

Richard Soriano Legaspi’s ‘Panulukan’ competes at Grifo International Film Festival.

Words Mian Centeno
Photos courtesy of Red Room Media Productions
April 26, 2026

In the Philippine landscape, the digital world plays a powerful role in shaping society’s understanding of public issues. When disinformation is exploited, digital polarization arises in the online sphere.

Richard Soriano Legaspi portrayed the dangerous era of the Duterte regime’s war on drugs and the far-reaching effects of disinformation through four main characters on opposing paths in his Filipino short film ‘Panulukan’ (Crossroads).

Panulukan is now competing at the Grifo International Film Festival in Italy after being selected from more than 1,800 global entries.

The film follows four strangers, played by Kelvin Vistan, Reiner Grospe, Jeremy Mayores, and Maricel Manuntag, on their way home to Manila. They accidentally discover they are batting for polar opposite paths—two of whom are paid trolls backing the state’s brutal deeds, while the other two are strong critics of state brutality.

“I see this film as a mirror held up to our society, urging us to reflect on the impact of our digital choices. Cinema possesses the unique strength to trigger social transformation and advocate for digital rights,” Legaspi shared.

The short film was developed as a competitive grant recipient of EngageMedia’s Tech Tales: Films about Digital Rights in the Asia-Pacific in 2021. Previously part of the Ways of Becoming Exhibition at UNIDEE 2024, the film’s selection marks a meaningful return to Italy.

Produced by Red Room Media Productions in collaboration with EngageMedia, ‘Panulukan’ also previously vied at the 15th EDUKINO-Empowering Film Festival in Poland, an event known for showcasing socially conscious cinema.

Aside from ‘Panulukan,' Legaspi is currently developing the full-length narrative ‘The Legend of the Wild Rose Mallow,’ which has been selected as one of the 20 semifinalists of the first-ever ISAPELIKULA, the new film funding and lab program of the Film Development Council of the Philippines, and was developed through the FDCP’s CreatePH Scriptwriting Lab.

“In an era shadowed by historical distortion and insidious misinformation, this story can act as a guide for our moral compass. It’s about finding our way through the fog of uncertainty.”