Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
“For more than twenty years, I have explored the most isolated territories to discover ethnic minorities living "out of time". Now I want to know: what happens when these tribes decide to confront the modern world?
To find out, I decided to travel to the southern part of Palawan Island in the Philippines, to meet an exiled family who’s been living in an urban environment for two years. They are members of the Taaw’t Bato, the "people of the rock", a mysterious tribe whose existence was discovered only in 1978: a few hundred individuals hidden deep in the jungle, living in giant natural caves to protect themselves from typhoons,
surviving there by fishing and hunting bats...
Although this family hoped for a better life as they moved to this local town, their dream soon turned into a nightmare. Above all, they found greater misery and despair. Thus today, some of them are about to make a radical choice: they want to leave modernity, return to the land of their ancestors and settle there forever. But to do so, they must abandon their loved ones who prefer to stay.
I will follow them on this incredible journey to the jungle where they were born. This trip back in time will be full of dangers and surprises. Eventually, it will lead me to the heart of the Palawan mountains, way beyond anything I could have imagined...”
JM. Corillion, filmmaker and adventurer
Documentary: The Last Caveman (2015)
Directed by: JM.Corillion
Production: Kwanza
#documentary #freedocumentary #TaawtBato #Palawan #IndigenousPeoples #CulturalSurvival #Philippines #Tribal
“For more than twenty years, I have explored the most isolated territories to discover ethnic minorities living "out of time". Now I want to know: what happens when these tribes decide to confront the modern world?
To find out, I decided to travel to the southern part of Palawan Island in the Philippines, to meet an exiled family who’s been living in an urban environment for two years. They are members of the Taaw’t Bato, the "people of the rock", a mysterious tribe whose existence was discovered only in 1978: a few hundred individuals hidden deep in the jungle, living in giant natural caves to protect themselves from typhoons,
surviving there by fishing and hunting bats...
Although this family hoped for a better life as they moved to this local town, their dream soon turned into a nightmare. Above all, they found greater misery and despair. Thus today, some of them are about to make a radical choice: they want to leave modernity, return to the land of their ancestors and settle there forever. But to do so, they must abandon their loved ones who prefer to stay.
I will follow them on this incredible journey to the jungle where they were born. This trip back in time will be full of dangers and surprises. Eventually, it will lead me to the heart of the Palawan mountains, way beyond anything I could have imagined...”
JM. Corillion, filmmaker and adventurer
Documentary: The Last Caveman (2015)
Directed by: JM.Corillion
Production: Kwanza
#documentary #freedocumentary #TaawtBato #Palawan #IndigenousPeoples #CulturalSurvival #Philippines #Tribal
