The official birth of the 100-millionth Filipino child in the Dr Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital attracts a huge flock of reporters that disrupts the day-to-day running of the hospital. The specialist maternity hospital in Manila is generally a place of refuge and seclusion from the metropolitan outside world that surrounds it. The image that is rendered by the hospital is one of cheerful women, baby in belly or arm, exchanging not only tales of birth, but also of their husbands' secret sexual desires. The women share everything, including their beds, their suffering and their joy. It is only when visiting hours arrive and the loved ones interfere that their microcosm is shattered and the everyday problems of poverty and gang violence begin to creep in.
Ramona S. Diaz was born in Manila. She earned an MA in Communications. Alongside her work as a director, screenwriter, producer and editor, Ramona S. Diaz conducts production and post-production workshops in the United States and numerous African countries, among others.
Selected: Exits (1992), Spirits Rising (1995), Imelda (2003), The Learning (2010), Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey (2012), Motherland (2017)
