Sam Manacsa
- Directing
Biography
Sam Manacsa is a Filipino filmmaker working across multiple disciplines. Her short film Cross My Heart and Hope to Die (2023) had its world premiere in the Orizzonti section of the Venice Film Festival, while If People Such as We Cease to Exist (2016) was selected for the International Competition at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. She is an alumna of SEAFIC Seed Lab (2022) and TIFF Directors’ Lab (2025). As a production designer, she has worked on award-winning films, including Carlo Francisco Manatad’s Whether the Weather Is Fine (Locarno, 2021) and Siyou Tan’s Amoeba (TIFF, 2025). She is also a film programmer for FREEPERIOD Cinema.
Known for
Filmography
- And If Thuy Didn't Exist · Producer
- Open Endings · Production Design
- Annisa · Director
- Amoeba · Production Design, Costume Design
- Water Sports · Creative Consultant
- Cold Cut · Production Design
- Nightbirds · Production Design
- A Catholic Schoolgirl · Production Design
- Five Breakups and a Romance · Art Direction
- Primetime Mother · Production Design
- Cross My Heart and Hope to Die · Director, Writer
- Whether the Weather Is Fine · Art Direction
- Sila-Sila · Art Direction
- Spid · Assistant Director
- Sakaling Maging Tayo · Art Direction
- Never Tear Us Apart · Art Direction
- Please • Care · Art Direction
- Jodilerks Dela Cruz, Employee of the Month · Art Direction
- Baka Bukas · Art Direction
- If People Such as We Cease to Exist · Director, Script
- The Void Is Immense in Idle Hours · Director, Writer