Children Metal Drivers (Bakal Boys) (2008)

Gina Pareño, Simon Ibarra, Jess Evardone, Joe Gruta, Cherry Malvar

Children struggle for survival in one of the poorest area of the Philippines in this drama from director and screenwriter Ralston Jover. Manila Bay is a crowded port littered with huge cargo ships and... read more  aging freighters, but in between the vessels one can find young men and boys bobbing in and out of the water, scavenging for bits of metal left behind by the ships that they can sell for recycling. Bungal (Vincent Olano) leads a small band of youngsters who use makeshift tools to salvage bits of scrap, facing unstable and polluted waters as they try to make a meager living. Utoy (Meljun Ginto) is young but a strong swimmer, and Bungal has recruited him to join his team of scavengers; Utoy looks up to Bungal like a big brother, while the younger boy helps the ringleader deal with his fears relating to local superstitions about treacherous mermaids living in the bay. When Utoy finds a massive anchor at the bottom of the bay, the gang thinks they've found a big score at last, but bringing it to the surface is no easy task, and when Utoy and his friends notice Bungal is missing after the anchor is finally brought to dry land, they wonder if there might be more to the story of the mermaids than they thought. Bakal Boys (aka Children Metal Divers) was an official selection at the 2010 Seattle International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi