24k Film In-The-Making

24k is a film about a group of middle-class treasure hunters digging for Yamashita gold.

What makes is different from other films about treasure hunting?

I’ll just say it gives a picture of how it’s done pinoy-style. While many western treasure hunting stories emphasize the Indiana Jones-type of adventures, this is not really the case with treasure hunters in the Philippines. Those digging for gold supposedly hidden by the Japanese Imperial army during Wold War II have a sub-culture of their own.

First of all, most, if not all of them are spiritual in the sense that they acknowledge that spirits guard over the treasure. They have to appease the guardians and be in good terms with them.

Secondly, they rely a lot on signs, indicators, mediums, and even hearsay to determine whether or not they are on the right track.

Finally, there are a number of them who are very passionate about treasure hunting, to the point of using up all their time and resources to pursue it. Treasure hunting is like gambling. Those who engage in it have an incredibly unique mind set, and have their own interpretation of everything.

I was very fascinated with the personalities I met and the stories I heard from doing research for 24k. There’s so much more to treasure hunting than what is shown in popular media.

In telling my story, I hope to give the audience a better understanding of the hearts and minds of the treasure hunters, and what goes on in the crevices that they create.