THE 21st edition of the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival will screen full-length and short feature films in a competition at Shangri-La Plaza in Mandaluyong City.
With the theme “Layag sa alon, hangin, at unos” (To sail through waves, wind, and storms), the festival will have 10 full-length films and 10 short features in competition. It will run from Oct. 3 to 12.
“The whole process — from submission to development to the final films — took about 20 months. That means that, as we introduce to you today the new films of Cinemalaya 2025, work on the 2026 batch has already begun. Twenty semifinalists are currently in the film lab,” said film director Laurice Guillen, Cinemalaya Foundation president, during a press conference on Sept. 3 at Shangri-La Plaza.
“As you can see, it is a continuing cycle. After 20 years of Cinemalaya, you can say it’s been a never-ending process,” she added.
Ms. Guillen also told the press that this year’s edition is “downscaled,” without special screenings, talkbacks, and other festival events. This means that the mall will function mainly as a screening or premiere venue, compared to the usual expansive venue of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Main Building, which is still under rehabilitation, which used to host multiple events.
“Our focus is really on the competition films this year,” she said.
Chris B. Millado, Cinemalaya’s festival director added that the theme references the “creative wind that has pushed the Cinemalaya balangay forward,” referring to the large traditional boat, and the “wave after wave of new breeds of filmmakers and storytellers over the years.”
“Cinemalaya almost capsized because of challenges in terms of funding, but because of the leadership of the CCP, the Cinemalaya Foundation, and continuing support from the FDCP (Film Development Council of the Philippines), we were able to arrest the capsizing of the Cinemalaya balangay,” he said.
Mr. Millado explained that upon stabilizing the boat, it has been the filmmakers who “sturdily put up the sail again with their wonderful, colorful, deeply profound stories.”
This year’s edition of Cinemalaya received 336 short film submissions and 190 full-length story scripts, according to film director Carlitos Siguion-Reyna, Cinemalaya’s competition and monitoring committee chairman.
“You’ll see a wide variety of voices, a wide variety of topics and themes in this selection,” he said.
The 10 full-length films in this year’s competition, many of which are star-studded, are:
Bloom Where You Are Planted by Nonilon Abao. A documentary about three land rights activists who must contend with their volatile notions of home amid terror and red-tagging in Cagayan Valley.
Nonilon Abao, who was a human rights worker in that region for years, said at the press conference that the current political situation calls for us to “take a stand and call out what is wrong.”
“Ang documentary namin ay ine-explore ang buhay ng mga aktibista na ito at kung paano umabot sila sa ganoong klaseng mga sitwasyon (Our documentary explores the lives of these activists and how they ended up in those kinds of situations),” he explained.
Child No. 82 by Tim Rone Villanueva. Touted as the first fantasy film entered in Cinemalaya, it follows a high school student who must prove that he is the 82nd child of the Philippines’ biggest action-fantasy movie star. Set during the movie icon’s wake, the adventure kicks off as the boy hopes to see his late father one last time.
“This film courageously strives to tackle the sensitive themes of paternity, machismo, and impunity of men amongst Filipinos and gives a lens to see the repercussions of living as an illegitimate child and a child with an absent parent,” director Tim Rone Villanueva said. For him, the film is “a love letter to his inner child.”
It stars former Pinoy Big Brother contestant JM Ibarra as the son Max and actor Vhong Navarro as the movie star Boy Kana.
Cinemartyrs by Sari Dalena. The film recreates forgotten massacres from Philippine history, as a young female filmmaker (played by Nour Hooshmand) begins shooting at a site where 1,000 men, women, and children were slaughtered.
Set in the 1990s when documentaries were still shot on 16-mm format, the lives of the film crew and local villagers put in peril as the spirits of the dead Katipuneros and Tausugs are awakened.
“Marami itong layers. Most of all, ito po ay tungkol sa pagluluwal ng isang pelikula na pinagdadaanan ng isang babae. (It has a lot of layers. Most of all, it’s about this woman going through the difficult birthing of a film),” said Ms. Dalena, the director.
Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan by Dustin Celestino. The film follows four Filipinos who must confront the slow erasure of memory and truth in a country devoured by disinformation. The central characters are a political strategist, a history professor, a speechwriter, and an election lawyer.
Director Dustin Celestino said that the film is “about disinformation.”
“Sila ay naghahanap ng katotohanan at kabuluhan habang napaliligiran ng mga kasinungalingan (Theirs is a search of truth and meaning while surrounded by deceit),” he said.
Its four leads are played by Dolly De Leon, Jojit Lorenzo, Zanjoe Marudo, and Mylene Dizon.
Padamlagan by Jenn Romano. This film takes place in 1972, during the collapse of the Colgante Bridge in Naga City, five days before the proclamation of Martial Law. OPM icon Ely Buendia (who himself was born in Naga) — in his first lead role in a full-length film — plays a father searching for his missing son in the wake of the tragedy.
The film’s title in English translates to “Night Light,” according to director Jenn Romano, and it tackles a very ominous tragedy in Bicol that she discovered while doing research during her graduate studies.
“It surfaced in the final issue of a local newspaper before the media blackout — one of the last headlines printed before press outlets were shut down and journalists arrested,” she said. “By reclaiming these stories, the film ensures that our struggles and truths remain part of our collective memory.”
Paglilitis by Cheska Marfori and Raymund Barcelon. In this social drama, a former executive assistant is persuaded by a passionate lawyer to file a sexual harassment case against her rich and highly respected boss.
“Our film is about sexual harassment at the workplace. Hindi ito masyadong pinaguusapan kasi natatakot ang mga inabuso na mawalan ng trabaho (It is something that isn’t really talked about because the victims are afraid of losing their jobs),” said Ms. Marfori.
Its stars include Rissey Reyes-Robinson, Eula Valdez, Leo Martinez, Jackie Lou Blanco, Sid Lucero, Bombi Plata, and Rolando Inocencio.
Open Endings by Nigel Santos and Keavy Vicente. The film follows four queer women in their 30s who are exes-turned-best-friends, played by Janella Salvador, Klea Pineda, Leanne Mamonong, and Jasmine Curtis-Smith. It sees them navigate adulthood, love, friendship, chosen families, and everything in between.
“This is a sapphic film,” declared director Nigel Santos. “We rarely see something like this on the big screen and we believe that representation matters. These stories need to be heard, seen, and experienced.”
“I hope this film adds something meaningful to the growing conversation around queer stories in Philippine cinema,” she added.
Republika ng Pipolipinas by Renei Dimla. This comedy is centered on a disillusioned farmer who renounces her Filipino citizenship when the local government threatens to evict her from her own land.
The film kicks off when she protests by building her own micronation called Republika ng Pipolipinas. “Para po ito sa mga taong sawa na sa flood control projects. Paguusapan nito ang tunay na kahulugan ng pagiging makabayan (This is for those who are sick of flood control projects. It will talk about the true meaning of patriotism),” said director Renei Dimla.
Its leads are played by Geraldine Villamil and Alessandra de Rossi.
Raging by Ryan Machado. The film, set in the mid-1990s in Sibuyan, Romblon, is about Eli, a young man in his late teens who was raped by one of his peers. His quest for truth and justice intertwines with a mysterious plane crash, and he uncovers a sinister plot that propels his desire to be heard but also threatens his community.
Eli is played by Elijah Canlas.
“It’s about abused spaces, physical places, and emotional landscapes that have been neglected and violated,” said the film’s director Ryan Machado, who hails from Romblon.
“In a nutshell, it’s a story about someone who confronts outrage that seeps out of the cracks and reshapes the world around it,” he added.
Warla by Kevin Alambra. An adaptation of true events, this film tells of a young transgender woman who finds the family she’s been longing for in a gang of sisters who kidnap foreign men to fund their gender-affirming surgeries.
Director Kevin Alambra said that it is ultimately a story of humanity. “Pinapakita nito kung paano ang isang tao ay kaya gawin ang lahat para mabuhay nang totoo at buo (It shows how a person could do anything to live truthfully and completely),” he said.
The main transgender cast members include Jervi Wrightson (known as Kaladkaren), Lance Reblando, Serena Magiliw, and Valeria Ortega.
SHORT FILMSThe 10 short feature films in the main competition are:
Ascension from the Office Cubicle by Hannah Silvestre, about an exploited call center agent who grows increasingly enamored by the late-night host of the local lottery draw.
Figat by Handiong Kapuno, which follows a young Kalinga girl, untouched by the pull of technology, bringing a handmade instrument to class to inspire a return to cultural pride.
Hasang by Daniel de la Cruz, about a young boy who witnesses his grandmother slowly transforming into a tilapia one summer.
I’m Best Left Inside My Head by Elian Idioma is centered on a multi-talented golden boy adopted by gay philanthropists, who has a reunion with his old buddies from his original orphanage.
Kay Basta Angkarabo Yay Bagay Ibat Ha Langit by Maria Estela Paiso is about a young girl who turns into a fish and recounts the territorial aggression of China being experienced by the fisherfolk in her hometown in Zambales.
Kung Tugnaw Ang Kaidalman Sang Lawod by Seth Andrew Blanca is a film about a debt-stricken seafarer who takes on his superior’s help, only to sense an unknown presence tightening its hold on him.
Please Keep This Copy by Miguel Lorenzo Peralta, where a cacophony of archival voices of rebellious youth in a private all-boys Catholic high school breaks through amid political turmoil.
Radikals by Arvin Belarmino is a film about a young rookie from a bizarre chicken-dance group facing a heckler after being the worst dancer at a performance.
The Next 24 Hours by Carl Joseph Papa is an animated film about a young woman navigating a cold and bureaucratic system over the course of 24 hours following a sexual assault.
Water Sports by Whammy Alcazaren centers on two sad boys who harness the power of their love in an attempt to survive a world devastated by climate change.
The full screening schedules and ticket prices have yet to be announced. For more details, visit the CCP and Cinemalaya websites and social media pages. — Brontë H. Lacsamana