Wanderlustproject Films

Wanderlustproject Films is a film production company born in San Francisco and is now based in sunny San Diego, California. We collaborate with exceptional artists and filmmakers to produce compelling and high quality feature documentaries and narratives, short films, short-form content videos, commercials, and music videos.

Wanderlustproject Films has produced and shot film projects globally including in beautiful and colorful countries like the Philippines, India, Japan, France, Costa Rica, and in the United States.

Our stories are born out of our travels and experiences with global landscapes and communities and are expressed to celebrate and highlight humanity — its contradictions, similarities, flaws, complex nuances, and beauty.

We at Wanderlustproject Films are perpetually drawn to the affecting magic of traveling through cinema. Welcome to our site!

Award-winning filmmaker, Benito Bautista founded Wanderlustproject Films in 2001. He’s been making films ever since together with his producing partner, Emma Francisco.

In the Works

The Road to Sydney (Dir. Benito Bautista | USA, Philippines)
feature documentary in post production

MONGRELS (Dir. Benito Bautista)
feature narrative in development

Jump Ship (Working Title) (Dir. JP Habac)
feature narrative in development

Fools Paradise (Dir. Seth Dacio)
short narrative in development

Samuel over the Rainbow (Dir. Benito Bautista)
feature narrative in development

Air Relax Pro Commercial Series (Dir. Benito Bautista)
commercial series in post production

Finished Works

Amazing Grace (Dir. Aiden Keltner | USA)
short film (2023)

A Long March (Dir. T.S. Botkin | USA)
feature documentary (2022)

PQ Village (Dir. Maricar Camaya | USA)
short film (2021)

A is for Agustin (Dir. Grace Simbulan | Philippines)
feature documentary film (2019)

The Interpreter (Dir. Benito Bautista | USA, Japan)
short narrative (2019)

A Prayer Beyond Borders (Dir. Ala’ Khan and Reynaldo Escoto | USA)
short documentary (2019)

Mumbai Love (Dir. Benito Bautista | Philippines)
feature narrative (2014)

HARANA: the Search for the Lost Art of Serenade (Dir. Benito Bautista | USA, Philippines)
feature documentary (2012)

BOUNDARY (Dir. Benito Bautista | USA, Philippines)
feature crime thriller (2011)

The Gift of Barong: a Journey from Within (Dir. Benito Bautista | USA, Philippines)
feature documentary (2006)

No. Four (Dir. Benito Bautista | USA)
suspense thriller (2009)

Commercials

AIR RELAX PRO – Evolution and Recovery with Chef and Entrepreneur Phillip Esteban

(Dir. Benito Bautista | USA, 2023)

AIR RELAX PRO – Evolution and Recovery with Cyclist and Cafe Owner Donny Carroll 

Music Videos

PQ Village (short documentary | USA, 2021)
Dir. Maricar Camaya

Grant Awards:
The William Male Foundation, 2020
CAAM Documentaries for Social Change Fund, 2019

Additional Support From:
Asian Solidarity Collective
Silayan Filipina National Organization

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A is for Agustin (feature documentary | Philippines, 2019)
Dir. Grace Simbulan

Nominations:
Best Documentary, Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino’s (Filipino Film Critics) Gawad Urian Awards, Philippines, 2020
Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary, Guam International Film Festival, November 2020
Best First Feature, Young Critics Circle, Philippines, 2019

Special Screening:
San Diego Filipino Cinema’s Perspective Film Series, 2020

The Interpreter (short crime romance | USA, Japan, 2019)
Dir. Benito Bautista

Awards:
Audience Choice Award, Narrative Short, San Diego Film Week, 2019
Best Supporting Actor, Narrative Short, San Diego Film Awards, 2019
Best Editing, Narrative Short, San Diego Film Awards, 2019
Best Sound Design, Narrative Short, San Diego Film Awards, 2019

Official Selection:
SOHO International Film Festival, 2020
San Diego International Film Festival, 2019
Guam International Film Festival, 2019
The World’s International Film Festival, San Francisco, 2019
San Diego Film Week, 2019

Misc:
Palm Springs ShortsFest Market, 2019

Samuel Over the Rainbow (feature narrative in development stage)
Dir. Benito Bautista

Award:
CJ Entertainment Award, Asian Project Market, Busan International Film Festival, 2013

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Harana: the Search for the Lost Art of Serenade (feature documentary | USA, Philippines 2012)
Dir. Benito Bautista

Awards:
Gawad Urian Award for Best Documentary Film, Manila, Philippines, 2013

Golden Space Needle Award for Best Documentary, 2nd Runner Up, Seattle International Film Festival, 2013

Audience Award, Hawaii International Film Festival, 2013
Audience Award, CAAMFEST (Center for Asian American Media Festival), San Francisco, CA, 2013
Audience Award, Pacific Arts Movement’s Spring Showcase, San Diego, CA, 2013
Audience Award, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts’ New Filipino Cinema, San Francisco, CA, 2013
Best Cinematography, LA Asian Pacific Film Festival, 2013
A.N.D. Award, Busan International Film Festival, 2012

In Competition, Busan International Film Festival, 2012
In Competition, Dubai International Film Festival, 2012

Official Selection:
Seattle International Film Festival, 2013
Santa Barbara International Film Festival, 2013
Asian American International Film Festival, New York, 2013
Chicago International Movies and Music Film Festival, 2013
Melbourne International Film Festival, 2013
Your Kontinent Film Festival, Canada, 2013
Chicago Cinema, 2013
Cinemanila International Film Festival, 2012
Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival, 2012

Telecast:
Comcast Xfinity on Demand, January 2017
PBS, Filipino American Lives, 2015

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BOUNDARY (feature narrative | USA, Philippines, 2011)
Dir. Benito Bautista

Awards:
Ani ng Dangal (Harvest of Honors) Award Recipient, 2016  – state recognition given by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts under the Office of the President of the Republic of the Philippines to Filipino artists whose works have been internationally recognized.

Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative, Guam International Film Festival, 2012

NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) Best Film Award, Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival, 2011

Best Southeast Asian Film – Special Mention, CineManila International Film Festival, 2011

Nominations:
Gawad Urian 2012: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Sound

Star Awards for Movies 2012: Digital Movie Cinematographer of the Year and Digital Movie Sound Engineer of the Year

Best Feature Narrative and Audience Award, San Diego Asian Film Festival, 2012

Review Capsules

Boundary
by Neel Chaudhuri
Source: Cinemas of Asia

Boundary is a remarkably tense film, with an opening that feels distinctly like something out of Beckett or Buñuel: a vagrant Limuel wanders about, fiddles with his shoe, eats a banana and then, shortly after, there is a fleeting image of a dead bird in the water. Through the rest of the film, director Benito Bautista maintains a steady hold in a drama of unsteady moments. The first half is dominated by seemingly mundane exchanges between Limuel and his passenger, and yet, I found it as unsettling as the terrifying denouement. The dialogue is sparse and there are pregnant pauses before the characters answer each other. There are hints and red herrings but you always sense – in their shifting glances and the manner in which they measure each other – that one man will betray the other. But who will betray who?

Review: Boundary
by Vincenzo Tagle
Source: Film Misery

Boundary’s biggest strength lies in its storytelling. San Francisco-based Filipino filmmaker Benito Bautista clearly knows how to tell a compelling narrative as he has written and directed a contemporary, thrilling movie that keeps you at the edge of your seat. But more than just being a great suspense film, it also provides a sharp commentary on the underlying social issues that plague gritty Manila.

Cinemanila 2011: Boundary Review
by Oggs Cruz
Source: twitch.com

In the end, Bautista has crafted a firm and suspenseful thriller whose clever twist in the end puts both perspective and pertinence to its constricting but intriguingly exciting process.

The Long Dark Journey
by Philbert Dy
Source: Clickthecity.com

Boundary is a film of tremendous ingenuity. It begins with an odd note, establishing the strangeness of the world at large. Then it moves the action to a taxi. And inside this confined space, the movie does miraculous things. It explores the treacherous ground of human connection, and builds an atmosphere of tension that consumes every single inch of the frame. The story ends up in familiar territory, but the trip there is more than worth it.

Review: Serenade
by Jay Weissberg
Source: Variety.com

The format may seem familiar, but Benito Bautista’s “Serenade” is an infectiously winning example of the “Buena Vista Social Club”-style docu, involving a fading musical form and a group of older men who are its last practitioners. Harana is a type of serenade native to the Philippines, and classical guitarist Florante Aguilar goes searching for remaining “haranistas,” men in rural areas who were hired to sing to young ladies from beneath their windows. Lovely music, the bittersweet melancholy of a dying tradition, and an irresistible romanticism make this a fest charmer.

Harana
Source: Seattle International Film Festival

Director Benito Bautista’s film is a treasure chest of exquisitely romantic Filipino music sweeping these beautiful performers from real-life courting to the concert hall to stardom as the nostalgia of the song tradition grips the country. More than just a chronicle of the once lost art of the serenade, Harana recalls a time when human connection was prized above digital communication. This is the ultimate SIFF 2013 date movie!

Harana
Source: LA Asian Pacific Film Fest

HARANA is a serenade in itself. It is a film that proclaims its love and longing for a form of music and an archaic tradition, and beams a light on to it like a Philippine summer moonlight for all the world to see and hear. Bautista’s exquisite film creates stars of its elder haranistas, recalling Buena Vista Social Club and its unearthing of Cuban talent previously unheard outside its country. Their stories and their voices is at the heart of the film and Aguilar’s respect, dedication and reverence for the music is what guides it. Bautista’s film captures Aguilar’s pursuit with equal adoration for the music and fills it with memorable performances giving the songs and the performers the opportunity to completely enchant and delight the audience. – See more at: http://laapff.festpro.com/films/detail/harana_2013#sthash.PYUTU6HG.dpuf

Award-winning ‘Harana’ wows SF Bay Area Viewers
by Mila de Guzman
Source: Global Nation, Inquirer.Net

There’s a reason the film “Harana” won the Audience Award at the Center for Asian American Media Film Festival in this city. The audience simply loved the poignant documentary on a vanishing Philippine musical tradition.

In fact, advance word of the film’s power had the line of people waiting to see it snaking around the block in front of the Kabuki Theater during its Sunday, March 17 screening.

Michael Magnaye, a documentary filmmaker who studied filmmaking at Stanford University is effusive with his accolades for the movie: “The power of this film is its ability to bring together an audience from many generations, who came together for entertainment, inspiration, and nostalgia.”

Harana Stuns Cinemalaya
by Joel Shepard
Source: Joel’s Blog

The inter-generational audience for the sold-out screening was floored. You could hear many older audience members quietly singing along to songs they remembered from their childhood; and the kids got completely swept up in the romance of it all. At the end there was a spontaneous standing ovation for the filmmakers and producers, the first one I’ve seen at Cinemalaya.

Cinemalaya Capsules
by Tablestretcher

Who says that Festival Pass (I know, I know) is not worth its price? The simple search for Haranistas becomes a reliving of a forgotten past. Bautista doesn’t stay contented with what he found; he goes further by bringing his find to places due their talents, assuming a self appointed position of a champion, chronicling a beautiful part of history now gone extinct.

Need help producing your next project?  We’re here to help.

Wanderlustproject Films has been on successful creative collaborations both locally and internationally since 2001. We are lucky to have been given awards and critical acclaim doing what we love to do – storytelling and filmmaking.

We can help you produce compelling and heartfelt short and feature length films both in the documentary and narrative form, as well as produce high-quality and unforgettable video content, commercials, music videos, and audio-visual presentations.

If you are in the beginning, middle or even end part of your film project and is stuck in a creative rut, talk to us! Our award-winning resident filmmakers are open for consultation.

Thinking of making a movie overseas? You can count on us. We have extensive experience in international co-productions, and we’d be more than happy to guide and assist you in producing your story abroad.

Tell us about your project and how we may assist you. Email us at wanderlustprojectfilms2001@gmail.com