New Moon is a fictional exploration of historical attitudes. The film starts with subtitles introducing the history of Christianity and Islam in the Phillipines, then displays extreme long shots of Manila’s landscapes. The film establishes the big historical picture before narrowing its focus to the specifics whereby the story of medical doctor Ismael and his family begins. After losing his son, Ibrahim to vigilante attacks, Ismael returns home and recalls the past. Among the list of Filipino films that have been showcased at various film festivals around the world, few are free of Philippine’s modern history. The same goes for New Moon, which describes the nation’s tragic history with great weight. The documentary-like visuals and use of archival material hints at the director’s objective efforts to get closer to the truth. Perhaps it may be futile to draw a line between fiction and non-fiction as Philippine’s history in itself stands as a tragedy which continues to this day. (Lee Sang-yong)