ILOILO City – A compelling short film that turns the concept of debt into a living, breathing nightmare has captured national attention as “Due Date na ni Judith”, a work by Aklanon filmmaker Kieth Earl Rebaño, is named one of the 10 finalists in the prestigious 2025 Sine Kabataan Short Film Lab and Festival by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP).
Selected from more than 200 submissions nationwide, the film is a powerful metaphor that reimagines debt as a grotesque pregnancy. The main character, Judith, must confront the parasitic growth inside her — an unrelenting symbol of mounting obligations and emotional strain. The film’s title, a wordplay on the colloquial term “Judith” (short for due date), mirrors the Filipino experience of living in constant dread of bills and creditors knocking at the door.
Rebaño, a Communication and Media Studies student from the University of the Philippines Visayas, is no stranger to telling stories that stem from deeply personal truths. Born and raised in Aklan, he grew up surrounded by the unspoken culture of utang — a normalized, often joked-about reality that nonetheless shaped his family’s daily survival.
“At an early age, I saw how debt wasn’t just about money. It was emotional, generational, and constant. I witnessed the toll it took on my mother, on our dreams, on how we made choices,” said Rebaño. “‘Due Date na ni Judith’ is my way of confronting those ghosts and giving voice to a struggle many Filipinos endure in silence.”
The film will be developed under the mentorship of industry experts through the FDCP’s Sine Kabataan Lab, which offers funding, training, and nationwide screening opportunities for emerging youth filmmakers whose works tackle relevant social issues. Rebaño’s project will be supported by producer Doxford Perlas, assistant director Lowell Jan Yasas, and production manager Divine Villasis.
Known for finding meaning in the mundane, Rebaño is steadily building his voice as a regional storyteller. In 2024, his animated pitch “Blub Blub Blub” was selected for the Asian TV Forum & Market and TTB Animation Pitch. His recent short film “Daeaura” was also named a finalist in the 2025 Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival.
For Rebaño, the inclusion of his work in this year’s Sine Kabataan program is not just a professional milestone, but a call for more inclusive storytelling in Philippine cinema.
“We need to bring regional voices into the national conversation. Our experiences, our humor, our pain — they matter. ‘Due Date na ni Judith’ is not just my story, but the story of countless Filipinos who carry the burden of survival every single day,” he said. “It’s time we stop laughing off our struggles and start confronting them head-on.”
With themes of sacrifice, survival, and societal pressure, “Due Date na ni Judith” aims to spark empathy, provoke dialogue, and challenge the idea that financial pain is just a fact of life. As Rebaño puts it, “Debt has a due date — and maybe, through stories like this, we can begin to rewrite what comes after.”/PN
