Carl Joseph Echague Papa is a Filipino filmmaker and animator. His films employed

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

, mostly

rotoscoping Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, live-action film images were projected onto a glass panel and traced onto paper. This pr ...

, that established mature subject matters in the daily life of the Philippines, particularly with the themes of family struggles. His films have been screened at

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

s worldwide and received multiple accolades during his lifetime including

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

tragicomedy Tragicomedy is a literary genre that blends aspects of both tragedy, tragic and comedy, comic forms. Most often seen in drama, dramatic literature, the term can describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements to lighten the ov ...

Manang Biring ''Manang Biring'' () is a 2015 Philippine Adult animation, adult animated Black comedy, black tragicomedy film directed by Carl Joseph Papa. It is the first animated film in the Philippines to be developed through rotoscoping entirely, drew seve ...

'' (2015) and

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

'' Paglisan'' (2018), both of them which won him Best Film twice at Cinema One Originals Film Festival, and

psychological drama Psychological drama, or psychodrama, is a Genre, subgenre of Drama (film and television), drama and psychological fiction literatures that generally focuses upon the emotional, mental, and psychological development of the protagonists and other c ...

science-fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, sp ...

'' Iti Mapukpukaw'' (2023), won the Best Film at the

19th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival The 19th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival was held from August 4 – 13, 2023 in Metro Manila, Philippines with the theme being “IlumiNasyon” (illumination). A total of ten full-length features and ten short films competed. The festival w ...

Career

Papa was originally chosen as a

software engineer Software engineering is a branch of both computer science and engineering focused on designing, developing, testing, and maintaining software applications. It involves applying engineering principles and computer programming expertise to develop ...

when he was an

alumnus Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by List of Philippine laws, Re ...

and pursue his career as a Java consultant at Orange and Bronze Software Labs, he took filmmaking instead to develop cutout animated short films ''Ang Prinsesa, ang Prinsipe at si Marlborita'' (2012) and ''iNay'' (2013)''.'' He made his

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many filmmakers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

live action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games o ...

film, a

semi-autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

drama ''The Unforgetting'' (2014) about a young woman struggle to preserve happy memories and forgetting painful ones when her mother left. The film was screened at

QCinema International Film Festival The QCinema International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Quezon City, Philippines. The festival showcases local and international films, documentaries, and short films, and gives grants to their creators. As of 2017, the venues ...

. He gained local recognition for his

adult animated An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and ...

films: ''

'', which won him the Best Film at the 2015

Cinema One Originals The Cinema One Originals Film Festival, commonly known as Cinema One Originals, was an independent film festival in the Philippines organized by ABS-CBN Films. The festival was held annually in the month of November in Quezon City, showcasin ...

, the first animated film to do so, and ''Paglisan'', which won him another Best Film at the 2018

. '' Iti Mapukpukaw'' garnered several awards, including Best Film at the

and 47th Gawad Urian Awards, the first animated film to do so, and immense media attention for his submission as the Philippine entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the

96th Academy Awards The 96th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the gala, the AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonl ...

, the first animated film to be submitted by the Philippines. In addition of directorial films, he is writing several live-action comedy films including ''Asuang'' (2018), '' Mang Jose'' (2021), and ''Boys at the Back'' (2024).

Upcoming projects

He is currently working on his animated films, ''Sentinel'' and ''58th'', the former set in a high school consumed by dark secrets, while the latter describes as a documentary about the Maguindanao massacre that took place in 2009. The film portrays

Glaiza de Castro Glaiza Castro Galura-Rainey (; born January 21, 1988), professionally known by her stage name Glaiza de Castro, is a Filipino actress and singer. She is known for playing various roles in television and mainstream, independent, and sociopolitica ...

as Ma. Reynafe Momay-Castillo, a daughter of the disappeared photojournalist Reynaldo "Bebot" Momay, alongside

Ricky Davao Frederick Charles Abiera Davao (May 30, 1961 – May 1, 2025) was a Filipino actor and television director. Career Davao began his career in the entertainment industry in 1978 as a dancer for the Vicor Crowd group. Later in the year, he had h ...

Mikoy Morales Vincent Marco Chu Morales (born December 11, 1993), professionally known as Mikoy Morales, is a Filipino actor, model, singer, comedian, and television personality. Along with Ruru Madrid, Zandra Summer and Elle Ramirez, he is a runner-up on ' ...

, Biboy Ramirez, Marco Masa, and Zyren Dela Cruz are announced to be part of the cast line-up.

Style and themes

With the exception of ''The Unforgetting'' and ''Homecoming'', Papa's directorial films are entirely animated with different types of animation: cutout,

child art Child art is drawings, paintings, or other artistic works created by children. It has been used as a therapeutic tool by psychologists and as an ethnographic tool to further understand children of the past. Within developmental theory, the art ...

, and

. Each films have recorded in live-action or voice recording with

storyboard A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of simple illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding proce ...

process during pre-production before the animation process in post-production. Additionally, most directorial films have notable, well-known cast members including

Cherry Pie Picache Cherry Pie Sison Picache (born May 27, 1970) is a Filipino actress. Known primarily for her versatile work across independent films, blockbusters and television productions, she has received numerous accolades, including two Durban Internati ...

Ian Veneracion Stephen Ian Lopez Veneracion (; born February 7, 1975) is a Filipino actor and singer. Career His career started in 1982 as first appeared in RPN 9's show, ''Joey and Son''. in 1986, Veneracion joined GMA Network's '' That's Entertainment'', h ...

Eula Valdez Maria Julia Amorsolo Valdes (born December 11, 1968), professionally known as Eula Valdez (), is a Filipino actress and singer, best known for her prominent role as Amor Powers in the original version of ''Pangako Sa 'Yo'' (2000) and as Janice ...

Khalil Ramos Khalil Joseph Nepomuceno Ramos (; born January 22, 1996) is a Filipino actor and singer. He is currently an exclusive actor of GMA Network. In July 2011, Ramos won second place on ''Pilipinas Got Talent'', a reality talent show in ABS-CBN and ...

Carlo Aquino Carlo Jose Liwanag Aquino (born September 3, 1985) is a Filipino actor and musician known for being the lead singer of the band Kollide and formerly of JCS with John Prats and Stefano Mori. Aquino achieved critical recognition for his perform ...

, and

Dolly de Leon Dolly Earnshaw de Leon (born April 12, 1969) is a Filipino actress. Known primarily for her work in independent films and theater, she has received numerous accolades, including a FAMAS Award, a Guldbagge Award, and a Los Angeles Film Critics ...

. Papa's films have mature subject matters, often focus on the Philippines' daily lives and family issues such as abandonment (''The Unforgetting''),

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

and

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

(''Manang Biring''),

dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...

and depression (''Paglisan''),

incest Incest ( ) is sexual intercourse, sex between kinship, close relatives, for example a brother, sister, or parent. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by lineag ...

and

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is re ...

(''Iti Mapukpukaw''), and

teenage pregnancy Teenage pregnancy, also known as adolescent pregnancy, is pregnancy in a female under the age of 20. Worldwide, pregnancy complications are the leading cause of death for women and girls 15 to 19 years old. The definition of teenage pregnancy i ...

(iNay).

Filmography

Feature films

Short films

Television series

Awards

Asia Pacific Screen Awards

FAMAS Awards

Gawad Urian Awards

Film festivals awards

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Papa, Carl Joseph Living people 20th-century Filipino artists Filipino animators Filipino film directors Filipino producers People from Metro Manila Year of birth missing (living people) University of the Philippines Diliman alumni