About

During Ferdinand Marcos's dictatorship, the State controlled the media and those critical of the government were either jailed or silenced. Portraits of Mosquito Press tells the story of Joe and Edith Burgos who recruited several of the country's best college editors and published an alternative newspaper. Director JL Burgos, who grew up in the family-run newspaper, records recollections of those who were once part of Burgos' team and stories of harassment, arrest and raids give a glimpse of the struggle for press freedom in Philippines.

'I became a filmmaker not by choice but by chance. I participated in many street demonstrations and protests to fight against injustices and to give a voice to the voiceless, but without a medium like video I couldn't explain a lot of the incidents because I am not a good writer … My brother, Jonas Burgos, was abducted from a busy mall while eating lunch. He is still missing to this date. The enforced disappearance of my brother triggered the need for me to film the human rights situation in the Philippines, primarily to raise awareness that such violations still happen in our country.' JL Burgos

Ages 18+