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MANILA, Philippines – “Coming from a rather chaotic personal background, I’ve always found it ironic that I ended up working on romance films,” says Catsi Catalan, whose directorial debut Fleeting competed at the 2025 Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival, where it won the PureGold Always Panalo Film award.
“Maybe, that’s exactly why I’m drawn to stories about longing, ambition, and complicated emotions,” the director continues. “As I transitioned into producing, I gravitated toward narratives that felt more personal.”
Catalan got her start as a production associate at Star Cinema, where she was exposed to filmmaking, working on titles such as Bromance: My Brother’s Romance, Starting Over Again, and She’s Dating the Gangster.
Over the years, she worked her way up to associate producer. That is, until she served as either a line or supervising producer in independent films, including Jaime Pacena II’s Cinemalaya 2024 entry Kono Basho and Dan Villegas’ crime thriller Uninvited.
Last year, she worked as the producer of Sigrid Andrea Bernardo’s Pushcart Tales, which was part of CinePanalo’s inaugural edition.
Janella Salvador and RK Bagatsing lead ‘Fleeting,’ Catsi Catalan’s directorial debut. Photo courtesy of production teamCatalan didn’t expect to grace the festival again so soon. “I wasn’t really expecting to be shortlisted as a director this time around, but when Fleeting came to life, it felt like I had come full circle,” she tells Rappler. “It’s special to return to the festival, not just as a producer, but now as a storyteller sharing a film that’s deeply personal to me.”
Fleeting, as its title warrants, centers on a whirlwind romance between Gem (Janella Salvador), a workaholic dreaming of becoming a pilot and touring the world, and JC (RK Bagatsing), a black-sheep heir to a wealthy family whose notions of “slow living” run counter to Gem’s.
“Fleeting came from a deeply emotional space, exploring how ambition and love can sometimes be at odds,” says Catalan.
The idea for the movie seeped into the director’s mind in 2021, during her stay in Mati, Davao at the height of the pandemic. “The isolation and vastness of the place gave me time to reflect on themes of the choices we make. The film also explores the male-dominated world of aviation.”
So, it was only fitting that Mati turned out to be the setting of the movie. “Mati has this underrated beauty, a perfect metaphor for Fleeting’s themes,” Catalan shares. “I wanted to capture the local chocolate industry, which all play a role in the story. Beyond its beauty, Mati represents the contrast between adventure and stability, something the characters struggle with in the film.”
Production got going around January this year, lasting for over a week. Catalan says directing provided her “the freedom to shape the story visually and emotionally in a way that felt truly my own.”
But she also admits that there’s pressure as a first-time director, though chiefly “self-imposed,” as she puts it. “But working with the team I trust the most made difficult things a whole lot bearable,” she’s quick to point out.
It helped that Catalan already worked with Salvador in other movies like Mallari and Under Parallel Skies, as well as in the latter’s Hey You music video, and with Bagatsing in Uninvited. “There was a sense of familiarity,” she says. “They know exactly how important this script is to me. Their chemistry was also effortless, which made it easier to capture the emotional depth of their characters.”
Bagatsing, though, says having Catalan as his director feels different. “In Uninvited, I didn’t get much time to work with her because I was directed by Dan Villegas. We saw each other on set but never really talked much longer. This time, we had plenty of time to collaborate and understand the story better.”
The actor continues, “Catsi made me realize that I haven’t done a light-hearted rom-com in a while. Most of my roles are intense and dramatic, so I really enjoyed this project. It adds something new to my resume.”
Catalan says the movie ‘came from a deeply emotional space.’ Photo courtesy of production teamThe movie also marked another collaboration between Catalan and Villegas, who serves as her cinematographer this time around. “Direk Dan has been part of my journey since my first solo project as a production associate, where he was also the director of photography. We’ve worked together in different capacities over the years.”
“Having him as the cinematographer for Fleeting felt natural because we already had that established trust. His collaborative approach ground the film visually,” Catalan says further.
Like most directors, debuting or otherwise, Catalan also had to recalibrate the original material she had written due to funding restrictions. “[It] was quite ambitious given our budget, so I had to make some tough decisions, including removing certain scenes. It was challenging because every scene felt important to the story, but I had to prioritize what truly served the film’s core message,” she says.
The director continues, “Instead of focusing on what we couldn’t do, we leaned into creative problem-solving, adjusting locations, reworking sequences, and maximizing what we had. In the end, those limitations pushed us to be more intentional with our storytelling, making the film more focused and intimate.”
This ability to cater to limitations has a lot to do with Catalan’s experience as a producer. “Producing taught me how to think about storytelling beyond just the script — logistics, collaboration, and solution driven decisions. As a director, I carried that mindset into Fleeting, ensuring that every creative decision was both meaningful and practical.”
As Fleeting hits Gateway theaters, Catalan says it’s “no longer just a personal project,” but something she now shares with the audiences.
Post-CinePanalo, Catalan is gearing up for her latest project, extending her expertise to another director making his feature debut, as she returns to her role as a line producer for Arvin Belarmino’s Ria. Belarmino also served as a creative producer for Fleeting.
“I continue to collaborate with filmmakers I deeply respect while taking on new creative challenges,” Catalan says. – Rappler.com
