War is a Tender Thing retells the blood-soaked story of war-torn Southern Philippines. Portrayed by the media as a locus of unbridgeable conflicts between and among different cultures living side by side, this documentary gently unravels the war as an endless attempt at survival and adaptation of the Southern Philippine citizens to state policies that disregard the most basic concept of home. How does one account for the many lives played upon by these political maneuvers that have not taken into consideration the faceless and nameless? One listens to their stories, however imperfect, however partial. These memories make up a narrative of the war that is as cogent as the factual telling.