For two decades, Cinemalaya has been where Filipino filmmakers test the limits of storytelling, unafraid to challenge, provoke, or experiment. This year, the festival sets sail once again from October 3 to 12, carrying with it ten full-length features and ten shorts that mirror the changing tides of Philippine cinema. The theme, Layag sa Alon, Hangin, at Unos, captures not just resilience but the restless energy of artists navigating uncertain times.
“This year, we carry a theme that is as poetic as it is powerful: Layag: Sa Alon, Hangin, at Unos,” said Cinemalaya Foundation president Kaye C. Tinga during the press conference. “The words alon, hangin, and unos evoke movement, transition, and the force of nature. Those factors make independent Filipino cinema thrive. It rides the waves of change, it moves with the wind of shifting perspectives, and it confronts the storms of our collective realities.”
Among the full-length entries are Nonilon Abao’s Bloom Where You Are Planted, Sari Dalena’s Cinemartyrs, Dustin Celestino’s Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan, and Ryan Machado’s Raging. Works like Kevin Alambra’s Warla, Cheska Marfori and Raymund Barcelon’s Paglilitis, and Nigel Santos and Keavy Vicente’s Open Endings promise to add to the mix of daring narratives.
The short film lineup offers equally striking titles, from Whammy Alcazaren’s Water Sports to Hannah Silvestre’s Ascension from the Office Cubicle and Carl Joseph Papa’s The Next 24 Hours. Together, these stories highlight the many ways Filipino filmmakers are reimagining cinema on both intimate and expansive scales.
Screenings will be held in familiar venues like Ayala Malls Cinemas, which has been with Cinemalaya for over two decades, as well as at Gateway Cineplex. A new partner this year is Shangri-La Plaza’s Red Carpet Cinemas, which joins as a main venue, opening the festival to more audiences.
Running alongside the main festival is the 37th Gawad CCP Para sa Alternatibong Pelikula at Video, Southeast Asia’s longest-running independent film competition, with entries in narrative, experimental, documentary, and animation.
For acclaimed director Laurice Guillen, the festival remains a cycle of discovery and persistence. “As you can see, it is a continuing cycle,” she said, noting that work on next year’s batch of films is already underway. “After 20 years, you can say it’s a never-ending process. Difficult, almost impossible, but thoroughly necessary, meaningful and valuable to the industry and to Philippine culture.”
Since its beginnings in 2005, Cinemalaya has become a proving ground for independent Filipino films, many of which have found acclaim both locally and internationally. With over a thousand works showcased in the past two decades, the festival continues to nurture filmmakers who tell stories with honesty, boldness, and vision.
