The Roaring of the Carabao
Born in the United States, a daughter visits the Philippines for the first time. On the night of her arrival to her mother's homeland, a volcano erupts. Mesmerized by the land’s turbulence, she wanders through the past, the present, and the hereafter following the glow of an ember. Utilizing aspects of hauntology, The Roaring of the Carabao engages with the volcano’s ongoing activity as a spectre of the production of Filipino Americanism; silenced imaginaries never properly mourned for and visions of a future that were promised but never arrived- a method of considering the volcano’s activity itself as a process of relentless remembering. Activating the Taal volcano as a dynamic character reconciling with the land's history, the film narrates a story of a night of the volcano’s eruption, intergenerational anger and a desire for heat.