"Brutus" is an indie film shot in Oriental Mindoro, Philippines about two kids smuggling logs from the mountains. It is about the journey that opens their eyes to a 'world' that is ruled by greed and torn by the political conflicts. "Brutus" is one of the ten Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival 2008 entries.—Tara Illenberger

"Brutus" is a fictionalized retelling of facts about the environmental degradation of Mindoro: two Mangyan teen-agers are paid by illegal loggers to smuggle wood to the lowlands. They hide them underneath a bamboo raft and float them for several days through dangerous white water. What follows is a journey that tests their friendship and their values; and opens up their eyes to a world new to them; a world dictated by ideologies and material need. Ultimately they find themselves caught in the conflict between the Military and the NPA. "Brutus" is an adventure film that has a lot to say about a vanishing culture threatened by man's abuses. It explores the struggle of a people who aspire to live well, with dignity and in harmony with nature. Brutus stars Yul Servo and R—Tara Illenberger