Done with so much heart, “Apol of My Ai,” one of seven full-length films competing in the 2026 Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival, is a heartfelt look at first love, family, and growing up.
But listen to the sound as another love story begins to emerge — one that connects a young Filipino boy to a musical tradition that generations before him grew up singing: kundiman.
Directed by Thop Nazareno, “Apol of My Ai” follows Apolinario “Apol” Medina Jr. (Zion Cruz), a grade-school boy who develops an innocent crush on his music teacher, Ma’am Ai (Rochelle Pangilinan). When Apol joins the Quiapo Elementary Chorale, music suddenly becomes a bigger part of his young world.
Soon, it also becomes a way for him to make sense of the complicated changes unfolding within his family.
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A scene from 'Apol of My Ai.' Handout
Giving this musical journey its distinctly Filipino soul is kundiman, a traditional Filipino song form with roots stretching back to the 19th century and closely associated with expressions of love, longing, and devotion.
While kundiman began as an oral tradition commonly associated with love and serenades, it eventually developed into a formal art-song tradition in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Renowned composers such as Francisco Santiago and Nicanor Abelardo helped shape and popularize the form, securing kundiman a lasting place in Philippine classical music.
But the history of kundiman goes beyond romantic love. The form also came to represent patriotism and the Filipino struggle for freedom. "Jocelynang Baliwag," for example, became associated with the Philippine revolutionary movement and came to represent a more profound desire for liberation.
This connection between personal and patriotic love demonstrates how deeply kundiman is ingrained in the country's musical heritage, making its inclusion in "Apol of My Ai" all the more meaningful.
Rather than simply featuring kundiman on the soundtrack, the film incorporates the tradition into the lives of its characters.
Apol discovers kundiman through the chorale, learning and performing the songs alongside other young singers under Ma’am Ai. As he encounters unfamiliar emotions — including the thrill and confusion of a first crush — the music gives him another language through which to understand love.
His father, Tatay Poli (Zanjoe Marudo), has his own relationship with the tradition.
A scene from 'Apol of My Ai.' Handout
An overseas Filipino worker, Poli performs kundiman and other Filipino classics as part of a band. His experience offers a striking parallel to Apol’s introduction to the same music through his school chorale, connecting father and son through songs written long before either of them was born.
In a story about a father and son whose bond is put to the test by change, that connection takes on even greater significance. When words alone are insufficient, audiences will learn if music can serve as a bridge between Poli and Apol.
The film brings kundiman to life through a selection of beloved Filipino pieces. Among the songs featured are Nicanor Abelardo’s “Bituing Marikit,” Rick Manrique’s “Ikaw ang Ligaya Ko” and Francisco Santiago’s “Ano Kaya ang Kapalaran.”
“Apol of My Ai” also features “Mutya ng Irog,” with music by Emerzon Texon, the film’s musical scorer, adding another layer to its celebration of Filipino music and its enduring place across generations.
Perhaps one of the film’s most touching ideas is simply seeing — and hearing — young students perform kundiman themselves.
For Apol and his classmates, these songs are no longer artifacts from another era. Kundiman becomes something alive — something they learn, sing, feel, and eventually make their own.
Through the eyes of a child experiencing his first crush, “Apol of My Ai” gives audiences a fresh way of encountering a musical tradition often associated with an older generation. Songs about love and longing suddenly acquire new meaning when filtered through Apol’s innocent discoveries, even as the adults around him grapple with far more complicated emotions of their own.
The music also gives the film another layer of Filipino identity. Its themes — first love, jealousy, family and growing up — may be universal, but the musical language through which many of those emotions are expressed remains unmistakably Filipino.
And that raises an intriguing question: What happens when a musical tradition is handed from one generation to the next? What can kundiman still say to Pinoy children growing up in an age when virtually any song from anywhere in the world is only a swipe away?
Through Apol’s journey, the movie implies that music doesn't have to stay stuck in the past. It has the power to transport memories between generations, be rediscovered by younger voices, and take on completely new meanings thanks to the people who keep singing it.
Perhaps that is where kundiman finds its most beautiful place in “Apol of My Ai” — not as nostalgia, but as something alive.
The Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival runs from September 23 to October 4 at Gateway Cineplex 18, TriNoma, Fairview Terraces, Ayala Malls Feliz, Ayala Malls Circuit, Ayala Malls Manila Bay and Market! Market!