
Apa Agbayani
Directing
Biography
Apa Agbayani is a Filipino writer-director who makes films and music videos. Apa was one of the recipients of NewFest’s New Voices Filmmaker Grant in 2024. His short “Abutan man tayo ng house lights (When the house lights come on)” received the QCShorts production grant and premiered at the QCinema International Film Festival in the Philippines in 2023, later playing NewFest 36, Queer East and LAAPFF. Apa’s previous credits include “Somewhere all the boys are birds” (2023), which premiered at NewFest 35 in New York, and “We kept warm” (2021), which was released online via Tarzeer Pictures. He has two forthcoming short films in postproduction, the Philippine gothic “Is this desire?” and the situationship mini-doc “Laundry day lovers.”
Known For

A 30-year old man who returns home to Manila is forced to confront his old life, his old friends, and his ex-boyfriend at their high school reunion where the drama of the past and the present collide.
Sila-Sila
While taking refuge in a diner immediately after committing a heinous crime, a violent man receives an unexpected opportunity to change his imminent fate.
Damned If You Do

In 2044, a middle-aged gay man finds himself ageing out of the Manila rave scene. A chance encounter with a mischievous ex-lover changes the tune of his last dance.
When the house lights come on

Alone in her apartment, Nemo learns to play games with her grief. She cooks; she does her makeup; she knits a sweater that never ends. Meanwhile, the destruction of the world outside looms, threatening to encroach on this inner life.
We kept warm

Benjie's obsession with long-dead Filipino movie star Jaime Reyes leads him to the rooftop where the actor killed himself. Here, he summons Jaime's ghost for a conversation.
Somewhere all the boys are birds
An architect comes to survey a derelict mountain mansion, then finds herself haunted by the presence of two strangers in the house.
Is this desire?

In conversation over dirty clothes, Paul and Ed air out their true feelings for one another.
Laundry day lovers

At its core, Hollow Ground is a film during the 2009 U.S. recession about toxic masculinity and its impact on a broken family. Michael, our 14-year-old protagonist, enters the film as a lonely teenager who finds solace in talking trash to other gamers on XBox.
Hollow Ground

A diary of kisses.