Ditsi Carolino studied Sociology at the University of the Philippines and documentary filmmaking at the National Film and Television School in England on a Chevening scholarship. She is one of the Philippines’ most acclaimed documentary filmmakers, known for her unflinching yet compassionate portraits of ordinary people in extraordinary struggles. Her films have screened at the Lincoln Center in New York, IDFA in Amsterdam, Hotdocs in Toronto, and major festivals across Europe, and North America. Critics describe her work as “courageous, empathetic, and urgent,” bridging advocacy and cinema.

Her landmark works Minsan Lang Sila Bata, Riles and Bunso explore child labor, kids in jail and the connection between poverty and corruption. Bunso won Best Director at the One World Human Rights Film Festival in Prague, the Grand Prix at the EBS International Documentary Film Fest in Korea and was instrumental in passing the Juvenile Justice law in the Philippines.
Riles an intimate portrait of a couple who live along the railway premiered in Sheffield then IDFA, won a Royal Television Award in the UK, Best Documentary at Cinemanila and was acquired for broadcast by the BBC. Since 2019, Ditsi has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that shortlists and votes for the Oscars.