This year’s best film from the Philippines. Thelma’s family, living in a ghetto, provides a foster home for abandoned children before they become adopted. Today is three-year-old John-John’s adoption day to an American family. The camera starts at the small run-down house of Thelma, passes through the narrow streets of the ghetto, and follows Thelma and John-John’s day of going through the adoption process until they finally reach the luxurious hotel room where the American couple wait for John-John. It is something Thelma has been repeatedly doing for some time now, yet it doesn’t seem to get any easier to part from the adopted baby. Director Mendoza unfolds the story, blending documentary and fiction with camera work that flows naturally. In the meantime, he certainly doesn’t forget to pinpoint the social welfare problem and the gulf between the rich and poor Filipino society; he appeals to audiences sympathetic to the adoption issue. (Kim Ji-suk)