Directing
Sam Manacsa
TL, EN, ID, FR cinema · 21 credits
Sam Manacsa is a Filipino filmmaker working across multiple disciplines. Her short film Cross My Heart and Hope to Die (2023) had its world premiere in the Orizzonti section of the Venice Film Festival, while If People Such as We Cease to Exist (2016) was selected for the International Competition at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. She is an alumna of SEAFIC Seed Lab (2022) and TIFF Directors’ Lab (2025). As a production designer, she has worked on award-winning films, including Carlo Francisco Manatad’s Whether the Weather Is Fine (Locarno, 2021) and Siyou Tan’s Amoeba (TIFF, 2025). She is also a film programmer for FREEPERIOD Cinema.
Known for
Filmography
Amoeba
Production Design, Costume Design
Open Endings
Production Design
Annisa
Director
Water Sports
Creative Consultant
Cold Cut
Production Design
Nightbirds
Production Design
Primetime Mother
Production Design
A Catholic Schoolgirl
Production Design
Five Breakups and a Romance
Art Direction
Cross My Heart and Hope to Die
Director, Writer
Whether the Weather Is Fine
Art Direction
Spid
Assistant Director
Sila-Sila
Art Direction
Sakaling Maging Tayo
Art Direction
Never Tear Us Apart
Art Direction
Please • Care
Art Direction
If People Such as We Cease to Exist
Director, Script
Baka Bukas
Art Direction