24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the sea wardens of El Salvador City risk their lives to protect the marine reserves in Misamis Oriental, Philippines.
Yet they are outnumbered.
Large fishing operations and poachers continue to encroach the area. Their tools are limited and methods are no longer efficient.
Together with Save Philippine Seas and Parrotfish Net, Huawei brings in technologies that will strengthen marine protection efforts.
This documentary was shot entirely on Huawei Mate 30 Pro.
As conflict and violence worldwide continue to drive displacement, we witness the power of compassion in a recent visit to Jordan with UNHCR National Goodwill Ambassador Atom Araullo.
Today and every day, we stand together #WithRefugees.
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Produced for UNHCR Philippines
Featuring Atom Araullo
Videography by Veejay Villafranca
Edited by Lyka Gonzalez
Written and Produced by Sophia Dedace
Music by Philip Guyler
At GRID, it's always been our mandate to tell the truest and best possible stories. We're excited to announce that 2017 marks the beginning of our quarterly format, with longer stories and more substantial content. We’ve come to realize that we’ve outgrown the traditional magazine format, and that we ought to fashion ourselves so that our physical form matches the stories we want to tell.
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Executive Producer: Paco Guerrero
Director: Lyka Gonzalez
Directors of Photography: Lyka Gonzalez (Air), Paco Guerrero (Water) and Jio Villegas (Land)
Editor: Lyka Gonzalez
Music: “Rising Tides” | AudioNetwork.com
Composers: Lucas Cantor, Dan Martinez and Thomas Parisch
Words: Nina Unlay, Fruhlein Econar and Kristine Fonacier
Set in the rural Philippines, Nina's mother tells her a story about her bygone ambition to move into the city. While Nina’s visiting aunt urges them to migrate into the city with her, they are compelled to rethink their choices and realize their true source of happiness. Agos: the Manila Dream is a fantastical and poetic exploration of the Filipinos’ prevailing vision of Manila as a land of better opportunities.
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Agos is a film directed by Lyka Gonzalez and written by Yumi Catabijan. The film was produced in partial fulfilment of their undergraduate thesis requirements. Agos: the Manila Dream won Best Picture at the Loyola Film Festival, and Best in Cinematography and Best in Musical Score at the España Cine Abierto in 2015. The film held its world premiere at the Festival de Cannes (Court Métrage) in May 2015. It has since screened in various festivals around the globe including Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, Victoria Film Festival, World Premieres Film Festival - Philippines, Treasure Coast Int'l Film Festival, and Pasinaya Open House Festival 2016.
Visit the official Agos: the Manila Dream FB Page for more updates on screenings and event schedules.
There's something about Sorsogon. This land of plenty has always been in the shadow of Albay, and even its own town, Donsol, which has exploded in popularity for its whale sharks. But designer and tourism consultant Milo Naval is using his design philosophy to change the way that people see this sleepy province.
His designer hotel, Siama Hotel, has become a destination in itself, and a showroom for was has become the fine-tuned synergy between meaningful design and local talent.
Story by Nina Unlay
Photographs by Francisco Guerrero
Film by Lyka Gonzalez
As featured in GRID Issue 15
The Japanese term "Shokunin," does not stop at defining their craftsman, but also implies utmost knowledge, intelligence, and social consciousness. In the final video we put together for Madrid Fusion Manila 2017, we traveled to the northern most tip of the Philippines to meet a man we consider to be our version of a local shokunin. A village of Mataw fishermen in Batanes go out to sea everyday, for two months of the year, in order to fish for Dorado.
The short timespan is a decision dictated by tradition, admirably resulting in the prevention of overfishing. The Dorado is dried then smoked, allowing it to last a year on average. It is a practice as old as memory, and one that will continue for as long as there are Mataw.
It is people like Jhun that keep us proud of the craftsmanship of the Filipino.
Team Leader: Michelle Ayuyao
Producer: May Navarra
Video: Lyka Gonzalez
Music: Thrones
“The way we travel is fundamentally changing, in ways that we would’ve scarcely imagined just a few years ago. GRID puts together a list of 11 people leading the way. Featuring Grid Magazine’s Kristine Fonacier (Editor-at-Large), Nachi Ugarte (Creative Director), and Francisco Guerrero (Executive Editor).”
Filmed and edited by Lyka Gonzalez
Music: Old Oak Tree by Scott Holmes, Enthusiast by Tours
Produced by GRID Magazine
"Mia Sebastian of Flotsam and Jetsam Hostel and Kiddo Cosio of El Union, in La Union share their experience growing a community in a place they love. As part of GRID Magazine’s 11 People Who Are Changing the Way We Travel, the pair reveals the moment that convinced them to stay beachside."
Filmed by Lyka Gonzalez
Music: "Summer Days" by Kai Engel
"As part of GRID Magazine's series on the 11 People Who Are Changing the Way We Travel, we talk to Freedive instructor Carlo Navarro and self-professed mermaid Odessa Bugarin about the resurgence of freediving and their time spent undersea at Aiyanar Resort in Anilao."
Filmed and edited by Lyka Gonzalez
Music: "Relaxing" by Bensound
Photography and film are just as much about working with the shadows as they are about telling stories with light. Through the years, pursuing these has helped me appreciate the world outside my own and find hope. Amidst adversity and circumstance. A force strong enough to keep us going.
This is the first of the three micro-videos we have crafted for Huawei Mobile, shot entirely using the HUAWEI Mate 30 Pro.
#RethinkPossibilities #HuaweiMate30PH
Happiness is always tricky to find. Naturally, we tend to look for it outwardly... only to find that it is right here with us and within us all along.
Sharing reflections on the field for Huawei Mobile Philippines, shot entirely using the HUAWEI Mate 30 Pro.
#RethinkPossibilities #HuaweiMate30PH
Kung makakapagsalita lang ang mga lugar na ating dinadayo, ano kayang sasabihin nila? (If only places could speak, what would they say?)
As travelers, what is our impact to the places we visit? What is the impact of the places we visit to us? Spoken word artist Zuela Herrera reflects on these questions in Iisang Mukha.
This video was shot at the Legacy Trail of the Masungi Geopark Project site, a landmark multi-sector initiative to restore devastated lands surrounding the Masungi Georeserve.
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This film was made for Masungi Georeserve.
Spoken Word Poetry by Zuela Herrera
Executive Producers: Billie Dumaliang and Anne Dumaliang
Directed by Lyka Gonzalez
Cinematography and Editing by Jonathan Olarte
2nd Camera by Eli Hiller
Coloring by Lyka Gonzalez
Music by Paul Mottram
Sound Engineering by Malik Bernardo
English Translation by Anna Reyes
Five months of fighting ripped through Marawi City in 2017 and forced hundreds of thousands to escape to safety in neighboring villages and cities. Among them was Rohaima Macarambor, a 55-year-old grandmother and breadwinner who found refuge at an evacuation site in Iligan City, some 40 kilometers away from Marawi.
This is her story that inspires us all.
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Produced for UNHCR Philippines
Featuring Atom Araullo
Video and Stills by Veejay Villafranca and Martin San Diego
Edited by Lyka Gonzalez
Written and Produced by by Sophia Dedace
READ: unhcr.org/ph/14002-rebuilding-ruin-strength-rohaimas-spirit.html
We approach the city with a critical eye, balanced with curiosity and compassion. Our look into Davao is a reminder that the places we visit are also places that other people call home. “Safe dito,” say the residents of Davao. More so than ever before, Davaoeños remain fiercely protective and proud of their hometown.
Read the story in GRID Issue 14, out on stands now.
Article by Nina Unlay
Video by Lyka Gonzalez
Photography by Fruhlein Chrys Econar
GRID is changing it up.
“In 2017, we leap into unchartered territories. Because that’s what travel is for: to push us into the unknown, to see who we can become.” –The Editors, GRID Magazine Volume 1
Video by Lyka Gonzalez
At the 2017 Madrid Fusion Manila, Toyo’s chef Jordy Navarra was given the chance to speak of the gastronomic principles that have guided him. One of them is the importance of travel in the pursuit of culinary enlightenment. As a team, we travel to learn techniques and processes. At the same time, we get to listen to stories and discover new ingredients.
Here is the first of three videos presented at chef Jordy's talk, which chronicles some of the places around the Philippines that have beckoned.
Team Leader: Michelle Ayuyao
Video: Lyka Gonzalez
Music: Thrones
In a documentary co-directed and filmed by Carmen del Prado and Lyka Gonzalez for GRID x Globe, we see Taal Lake in a different light. Find out more about this here.
In GRID Magazine Issue 15, we make the case to journey past Legazpi and Donsol, all the way to Sorsogon, the sleepy province that has yet to have its time in the spotlight.
Filmed by Lyka Gonzalez and Francisco Guerrero
Edited by Lyka Gonzalez
Music by Dave Depper - "Up In The Air"
Filmed and edited by Lyka Gonzalez
Composed by Matthew Azada
Produced by Nina Unlay for Urban Ashram Yoga
Talents: Janaka Ordonez, Carla Paredes and Adi Amor