Maximo Oliveros

The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros is one of those all-too-rare films that handles prepubescent sexual anxiety with intelligence and unflinching honesty. Twelve year old Maxi (Nathan Lopez) lives with his widower father and two older brothers in the slums of Manila. His mother has passed away, leaving the male contigent of his family to turn to petty crime to earn a better living. Meanwhile, Maxi takes on the role of surrogate mother by cooking, cleaning, and sewing for them. Things become complicated when Maxi meets and falls for Victor, a rookie cop who has an axe to grind with the local criminals. As events start to spiral out of control, Maxi has to make a choice; either to stay loyal to the family he mothers, or to Victor, the object of his affection. Shot in the backstreet of Sampaloc, Manila, this is a bittersweet tale of adolescence which has captured the hearts of audiences around the globe.