109 minutes / Color
Release: 1983
Copyright: 1983
CELSO AND CORA is a feature length documentary about a young couple and their two children living in a squatter settlement in the Philippines' capital, Manila.
Cora and Celso earn their living selling cigarettes outside a downtown hotel, in defiance of city regulations. The film follows their lives over a three month period, beginning with Cora's attempt to find a new room for the family after they have been evicted. Later, Celso and Cora face a crisis in their own relationship aggravated by the stresses of their daily lives.
Rather than just a report on poverty, this is a universal story of people experiencing everyday events with a mixture of humor, irritation, weariness, and courage.
"A vivid depiction of the human condition... The viewer aches to make a difference, to do something for these people, who have been brought to life by the skill and empathy of the filmmaker. Public and college library audiences will find much to ponder in this look at how the other three-quarters of the world lives."- William Ward, Booklist
"VALENCIA DIARY and CELSO AND CORA are the most scrupulous documentary studies there are of Philippine social life."- Robert Nery, Filmnews
"A rare documentary of high conscience, almost in a class of its own."- John Hinde, ABC Radio (Australia)
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