CHIARAVALLE, Italy (Apr. 2026) — A six-minute conversation between four strangers on their way home to Manila. Two are paid trolls. Two are their harshest critics. That premise just earned a Filipino filmmaker a spot on an international stage.
Richard Soriano Legaspi’s short film “Panulukan” (Crossroads) was selected to compete at the Grifo International Film Festival in Chiaravalle, Italy, out of more than 1,800 entries from around the world. The film screened at the Teatro Comunale Tullio Giacconi in the Province of Ancona, Marche region.
The film follows four strangers traveling home to Manila who find themselves on completely opposed sides of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs. Two are paid online trolls defending the state’s campaign; the other two are vocal critics of the violence. Through their collision, Legaspi explores how disinformation spreads, how social media is weaponized, and how ordinary Pinoys become either instruments or casualties of that system.
“I see this film as a mirror held up to our society, urging us to reflect on the impact of our digital choices,” Legaspi said. “Cinema possesses the unique strength to trigger social transformation and advocate for digital rights.”
Starring Kelvin Vistan, Reiner Grospe, Jeremy Mayores, and Maricel Manuntag, “Panulukan” was developed in 2021 as a grant recipient of EngageMedia’s Tech Tales: Films about Digital Rights in the Asia-Pacific program. It previously competed at the 15th EDUKINO-Empowering Film Festival in Poland and was part of the Ways of Becoming Exhibition at UNIDEE 2024 — also in Italy, where Legaspi holds a long-standing connection as a former UNESCO Laureate scholarship recipient and resident artist at the Università delle Idee.
The film is produced by Red Room Media Productions in collaboration with Engaged Media.
Beyond “Panulukan,” Legaspi is currently developing his first full-length feature, “The Legend of the Wild Rose Mallow,” which landed among the 20 semifinalists of ISAPELIKULA, the Film Development Council of the Philippines’ new film funding and lab program. It was also developed through the FDCP’s CreatePH Scriptwriting Lab.
Legaspi is a graduate of the University of the East Caloocan and a fellow of the Asian Film Academy in Busan. His work has been exhibited in France, Peru, Germany, and Taiwan.
