Unless the Water Is Safer than the Land

Unless the Water is Safer than the Land, whose Filipino language title, Musmos na Sumibol sa Gubat ng Digma actually literally means "A Child Who Sprung out of Forest of War", is a 2018 Philippine independent film directed by Iar Lionel Arondaing.

[2] In the film, an old man recounts the coming-of-age tale of a young Muslim girl named Eshal (Junyka Sigrid Santarin) who is forced to hide in the forest with her infant brother Affan to escape the violence of the inter-familial dispute (locally called "Rido") that has plagued her family.

In the forest, he meets a boy named Farhan (JM Salvado) with whom she develops a friendship as they wait for adults to find them and bring them back to their families.

[4] Cruz specifically praised the films for its imagery: There are scenes in Iar Arondaing’s Musmos na Sumibol sa Gubat ng Digma that are just terrifyingly striking, reflective of the mesmerizing draw of narratives derived from communities torn apart by war.

"Musmos na Sumibol sa Gubat ng Digma works best when it relishes in imagery," Cruz opines.