At first glance, the sight of the jeepney is both familiar and striking. With its vividly painted designs, each vehicle is as individual as its driver. In Jeepney, director Esy Casey uses the rhythms of brushstrokes and bus horns to peel back layers of local history and generations. As the tiny film crew of two travels through the Philippines, they make several stops to explore what the indigenous art form means for rapidly changing rural and urban communities, increasing oil prices, and struggling to survive within the shifts of globalization. All the while, the film takes an in-depth look at the jeepney with visually striking detail and a light, lyrical composition. The jeepney is not just a vehicle, but also a metaphor of shifting times.
