Filipino-Indonesian Drama Examines Grief and Survival

The Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) is currently spotlighting a Filipino-Indonesian co-production, "The Void is Immense in Idle Hours," at the Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) running from November 4-7, 2025 in Taipei.

Directed by Sam Manacsa and produced by a team from the Philippines and Indonesia, the film centers on 19-year-old Rosemary, who becomes the last person to see a young boy before his disappearance. As Rosemary finds herself alongside the child's grieving mother Agnes in the search, she confronts unspoken grief and forgotten dreams in the stillness of their shared days.

The narrative draws from the reality of mothers who have lost sons to violence without answers or justice. Director Manacsa explains that the film explores "quiet persistence" - the small, unspoken ways people keep moving when grief never ends. "In a society where violence has become ordinary, the film asks what kind of life is left to live, and what it still means to live at all," he says.

The production is currently in the financing stage, with plans to begin prep work in late 2026 and principal photography targeted for the second quarter of 2027. The team is seeking production partners who share their vision for intimate, socially conscious storytelling.