From undocumented survival to romantic screw-ups - I make films about what people do when no one’s watching.
From undocumented survival to romantic screw-ups - I make films about what people do when no one’s watching.
I’m Michael Manese , a New York filmmaker drawn to quiet people in loud situations. I make films that live in the cracks: sometimes dramatic, sometimes absurd, sometimes experimental but always grounded in human moments where everything is on the line. My work has screened at 16+ festivals worldwide, including the Asian American International Film Festival at the Asia Society Museum. I’m currently developing my first feature, Karina Dreams in Tagalog, a gritty immigrant drama about betrayal, survival, and the cost of staying quiet.
I tell stories from the unique perspective of Filipino Americans, born and raised here, shaped by the culture around us, but still carrying the rhythm, language, and contradictions of where we come from. These are mainstream stories, love, ambition, betrayal, told through a Filipino lens, because we’ve always been here. It’s time the stories were, too.