The Gospel of The Beast

Feature Narrative • Philippines • 01h 30m

When 15-year-old Mateo accidentally kills a classmate, he runs away with a man he barely knows, Berto, with whom he creates a unique father-son relationship – where Mateo learns the harrowing realities about life, death, and beasthood.

Director’s Profile

Sheron Dayoc

Sheron Dayoc is one of the pioneering voices in regional cinema in the Philippines. He is an alumnus of the 2011 Sundance Institute, Next Master Toyko Filmex 2010, and Asian Film Academy 2008.

His 2016 film, “WOMEN OF THE WEEPING RIVER” (formerly titled “SATRA”), which he directed and produced, was one of the six film projects selected for the June 2011 Sundance Scriptwriting Lab in Utah. The project received a script development fund from the Asian Cinema Fund and Hubert Bals Fund. The film was selected at the Asian Project Market, Sorfond pitching forum in Norway, and Ties That Bind – EAVE for 2014.

The film won several local and international awards and was recognized by the Philippines’ National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and Gawas Urian (Philippines Critics Award) as one of the top 10 iconic films of the decade.

His first full-length documentary, “THE CRESCENT RISING,” won the Best Documentary at the 2016 Busan International Film festival. It also won the Best Documentary Film at both the 2016 Gawad Urian (Philippines Critics Award) and the 2015 QCinema International Film Festival.

HALAW (WAYS OF THE SEA), his debut feature-length film, won the Best Film, Director, Actor, and Editing at the Philippines’ 2010 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. He produced, wrote, and directed the film. It received Special Mention, NETPAC at the 2011 Berlin IFF and the NETPAC Development Prize at the 2011 Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Australia. The film was screened and competed at several film festivals in Asia, Europe, the US, South America, and Australia.

He regularly collaborates with his core team, producing the award-winning debut film of Arden Rod Condez, “John Denver Trending.” The film won the Jury Prize, Critics’ Award, and Audience Award at the Vesoul Asian Film Festival. It also won the Kaiju D’oro AL Miglior Best Film Award in East Asia 2022. Additionally, the film won the Best Film, NETPAC Jury Award, and other awards at the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival in 2019. It competed internationally in Busan International Film Festival’s New Currents Section.

In 2019, he produced Sonny Calvento’s short film “Excuse Me Miss,” the first Filipino short film to compete in Sundance in 2019. It was eventually screened at major festivals such as Locarno IFF, Shanghai IFF, and Palm Springs ShortFest, among others.