Sam Manacsa is a Filipino filmmaker and production designer born in Manila. After graduating with a degree in Film from the University of the Philippines, she worked in production design for award-winning films including Carlo Francisco Manatad’s Whether the Weather Is Fine (Locarno, 2021) and Siyou Tan’s Amoeba (TIFF, 2025).
Her thesis film If People Such as We Cease to Exist (Kung Wala Nang Tulad Natin) was selected for the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in 2017. Her sophomore short film Cross My Heart and Hope to Die had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in the Orizzonti section and has since won several awards from Oscar-qualifying festivals, including the Grand Prize at PÖFF Shorts and Regard–Saguenay International Short Film Festival.
She is also an alumna of the SEAFIC Seed Lab (2022) and the TIFF Director’s Lab (2025). Manacsa is currently developing her debut feature The Void Is Immense in Idle Hours, which was selected for the TorinoFilmLab ScriptLab 2024 and Talents Tokyo 2025.