The Blossoming Of Maximo Oliveros (15)<!-- none onestar twostar threestar fourstar fivestar -->

Auraeus Solito's no-budget feature debut arrives hot from the mean streets of Manila, where 12-year-old Maxi (Nathan Lopez) is growing up poor, Catholic and gay. The father and two older brothers he keeps house for are petty criminals. When Maxi falls for a principled rookie policeman, trouble brews. Shot on digital video, its scratchy, lo-fi look isn't a treat for the eye, and some of the staging is amateurish, but Pepe Smith's guitar score is a winner.