Small Voices

Small Voices or Mga Munting Tinig is a 2002 Filipino drama film directed by Gil Portes and Adolfo Alix, Jr. The film set in a public school won 11 awards and was nominated for 11 other including Gawad Urian Awards. It is the only Filipino film to be released by Warner Bros. Pictures and also the first and only co-distribution with Regal Films for the DVD release. Plot Melinda (Alessandra de Rossi) is a new substitute teacher at the Malawig Elementary School, located in a poor remote barrio. A young university graduate, her family expects her to look for work abroad, but in her idealism she takes on a challenging job in the provincial public school, which lacks resources and has corrupt personnel. The heavy monsoon rains and the nearby NPAs also add to her difficulties. Melinda goes about her work with daily diligence though, always having a smile, a kind word for her neatly uniformed charges. But her battles against apathy, corruption, and contempt are constant, further hindered by the volatile political climate in which fathers and sons are constantly recruited to join guerilla forces fighting in the mountains. When a funding opportunity in the form of a regional singing contest presents itself to Melinda, the idealistic teacher must smartly juggle uncooperative school administrators, confrontational parents, and the torn children themselves in order to let their small voices be heard.