Rafael Manuel is a Filipino filmmaker currently based in between London, Amsterdam, and Manila. Among numerous awards and prizes across festivals around the world, his latest short film ‘Filipiñana’, won the Silver Bear Jury Prize at the 70th Berlinale International Film Festival and has been nominated for the Best British Short Film at the British Independent Film Awards 2020.
His foundations are in philosophy and visual communications which he studied at the Ateneo de Manila University. Before taking up his MA in filmmaking at the London Film School, he worked as a copywriter for Saatchi & Saatchi and as a creative director for TBWA. His work in advertising has won numerous prizes at international advertising festivals such as the Cannes Lions.
He is currently developing his debut-feature film with the support of the Cannes Cinéfondation La Residence. His work has been featured by ARTE, Variety, Screen Daily, Cineuropa and Vice. Along with Naomi Pacifique he is the co-founder of Idle Eyes Productions - a London-based artist collective in the audio-visual field.
