The craft
From the seed
to the box
Six steps, two provinces, one bench. We would rather show it than say it: each step carries a short film and an interview. Until the shoot, illustrations stand in.
01
The Valley
Isabela and Cagayan. Volcanic soil, a long dry season, a river that floods on schedule.
Film · 90 s
Wide shots at dawn over the Cagayan valley, hands in the leaf, a grower interviewed (subtitled EN/FR).
16:9
02
Curing
Bamboo barns, air, and time. Nothing is hurried here because nothing can be.
Film · 30 s
Fixed shots in the curing barn, rows of leaf hung in the half-light, ambient sound only.
16:9
03
Fermentation and ageing
Pilones turned by hand, then eighteen months of rest before a single leaf reaches the bench.
Film · 60 s
The pilones, the thermometer, the turning of the leaf. The cellar master explains the eighteen months.
16:9
04
The Rollers
The bench. Bunching, the wrapper laid on the bias, the triple cap. A roller explains her own hands.
Film · 90 s · the most important film on the site
Close on the hands: bunching, wrapper, triple cap, guillotine. Two rollers interviewed, one woman, one man.
16:9
The same gesture, a century apart. Archive photographs, Manila.
05
The Draw Test
Every cigar through the draw machine, colour sorting by eye, then rest before the box.
Film · 30 s
Draw machine, the needle settling, rows of cigars sorted by shade on a cedar tray.
16:9
06
The Box
Paete, the woodcarvers' town. Reclaimed molave, a capiz lid, brass struck with the seal.
Film · 45 s
The cabinetmaker in Paete, raw molave, capiz shells cut and set, the brass plate struck.
16:9
Our makers
The hands behind the cigar
Portrait
ErnestoGrower · Isabela · 31 years
Portrait
MaritesBarn keeper · Cagayan · 18 years
Portrait
DaniloCellar master · Laguna · 26 years
Portrait
RonnieRoller · Laguna · 22 years
Portrait
AileenQuality · Laguna · 9 years
Portrait
LitoCabinetmaker · Paete · 34 years