“Moving, intense, graphic, finely crafted.”

Such were words critics used after an initial screening of Bunso (The Youngest), a touching documentary on the lives of three child prisoners in a city jail in the Visayas region of the Philippines.

Directed by Ditsi Carolino and photographed by Nana Buxani, Bunso follows the lives of three boys, Tony, Itsoy and Diosel, aged 11 to 13 who are detained in a jail for adult criminals. It is an immersion into the world of the city jail with many poignant moments from the boys who speak their truth with innocence and street smarts, pain and humor.

Carolino and Buxani team up for the third time following their critically-acclaimed documentary films, Minsan Lang Sila Bata (1996) and Riles (2002).

Supported by the Consuelo Foundation and UNICEF, Bunso is a powerful advocacy tool that child rights advocates are using to generate support for the passage of the Juvenile Justice Bill.

The film had a premiere screening on 10 December at the University of the Philippines Film Institute.