Weaving Filipino Narratives
PHOTO | VIDEO | CONCEPTS
ABOUT
"Habi" is a Filipino term which denotes 'weaving'. Committed to “Weaving Filipino Narratives”, Habi Collective is a close-knit team of multi-skilled visual artisans bound by a common ideal: an ardent love for Filipino history, lifeways, and arts.
Habi Collective is most known for its acclaimed cinema releases, most recent and notable of which is the full-length documentary "Walang Rape sa Bontok (Bontok, Rapeless)" which has won awards in the Philippines and abroad.
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HOW WE WORK
FOUNDERS
We are immersion-and-research driven.
The team prudently interacts with locals, especially with respected knowledge holders. We also secure credible published resources for the related literature of every project.
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We are adaptable and responsive.
The team can work even in the most challenging environments across the Philippine archipelago, whilst maintaining standard operating procedures for the safety of equipment, crew, and subjects.
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We are collaborative.
Every production is a Bayanihan endeavor, among the production crew, the subjects, and the client/producer.
The media production company was founded in August 1, 2012 by fiercely kayumanggi couple Mark Lester Menor Valle and Carla Samantha Pulido Ocampo. The brand is a reflection of their personalities.
LESTER VALLE
Director of Photography
Lester is a son of two cultures from the Northern Philippines: Pangasinan, and Iloko. For this reason and more, he has always been deeply enamored with stories from the Amianan – from where the north wind comes – stories which include that of the hardy peoples of Luzon's Cordilleras, whose culture and lexicon find common threads with Iloko and Pangasinan.
An insatiable reader of Philippine history and culture books, he often finds inspiration and possible film narratives from the many tomes he pores over. He has come a long way from quitting his university course in geology, to doing menial jobs as a photography studio assistant, to learning the ABC’s of photography and videography. He is now the team’s chief cinematographer, and finally, the director of its Amianan documentaries.
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CARLA OCAMPO
Writer/Editor
Carla is a former folk singer who started out in films by composing themes and musical scores for friends at the UP Film Institute, from where she graduated in 2005. She later developed skills in documentary writing, research, videography, and post-production during her five-year stay at the Manila-based travel and lifestyle network, Living Asia Channel.
She is now a freelance writer, and a college instructor for Screenwriting at Malayan Colleges Laguna. She has finally learned to live life on the straight edge, and after a very long and necessary separation from her guitar, she has slowly begun re-learning how to play and write songs again.
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