'The Ritual' (Ang Ritwal) Documentary short
7 minutes
Philippines, 2024
In Manila’s slums devotion to basketball verges on sacred. Over the course of ‘Undas’ (the Filipino Day of the Dead), two ballers from a community of cemetery squatters take us into the heart of the streetball scene where neighborhood pride is the ultimate prize. Ang Ritwal is about the power of communal rituals — both sacred and profane — and their role in creating a sense of identity for those on the city’s fringes.
“Alex Tiernan recreates a paradoxical and absurd visual parallelism, showing some of the human and spiritual contradictions that cross the social fabric of this large and multifaceted archipelago.” — Simone Bardoni
Director/DP — Alex Tiernan
Production Co. — Bullet Manila
Producer — Leslie Ann Tan
Exec. Producer — Jeremy Goold @ You Are Here
Exec. Producer — Sanou Diouf @ Old Man Taro
Production Manager — Aileen Ilumin
Locations Manager — Zeus
Production Assistant — Eleyn Medina
1st AC — Vic Ong
Additional Photography — Jacopo Brogioni
Production Design — Old Man Taro
Editor — Liam Bachler @ Tenthree Editing
Post Production — Company3
Colour Producer — Ellora Soret
Colourist — Yoomin Lee
Music Composer — Vittorio Giampietro, Bianca Loffreda
Sound Design — Vittorio Giampietro
HONOURS
Bogotá Short Film Festival BOGOSHORTS, 2025 | Official Selection
DokuBaku International Documentary Film Festival, Baku, 2025 | Official Selection
Sole Luna Doc Film Festival, Palermo, 2025 | Official Selection
Concorto Film Festival, Piacenza, 2025 | Special Programme: Focus Philippines
Mirada Corta Short Film Festival, CDMX, 2025 | Winner: Best Documentary Short Film
Mexico City Shortsfest, 2025 | Official Selection
Brussels Short Film Festival, 2025 | Official Selection
1.4 Awards, 2024 | Shortlist: Best Personal Project