𝗞𝘂𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗲𝘆𝘂𝗽𝘀 𝗔𝘁𝗯𝗽 𝗯𝘆 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝘆. 𝗗𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝘀 𝗚𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗼

“Layag sa Alon, Hangin, at Unos ” is this year’s theme of the 21st Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, reflecting the festival’s decades of weathering every storm of its era.

“Cinemalaya promises to serve as a vessel for top-tier visual storytelling that ignites imagination and amplifies diverse voices in cinema, anchored by the creative vision of Filipino filmmakers who dared to sail beyond the mainstream,” organizers said.

Competing in the for the Full Length Films category are:

BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED by Noni Abao: Three land rights activists contend with their volatile notions of home amid terror and red-tagging in Cagayan Valley.

CHILD NO. 82 (SON OF BOY KANA) by Tim Rone Villanueva: At a wake, a persevering high school student must prove that he is the 82nd child of the Philippines’ biggest action-fantasy movie star in the hopes of seeing his late father one last time.

CINEMARTYRS by Sari Dalena: Recreating forgotten massacres from Philippine history, a young filmmaker begins shooting at a site where 1,000 men, women, and children were slaughtered. But the angry spirits are awakened and the lives of her team and the local villagers are put in peril.

HABANG NILALAMON NG HYDRA ANG KASAYSAYAN by Dustin Celestino: Four Filipinos confront the slow erasure of memory and truth in a country devoured by disinformation.

OPEN ENDINGS by Nigel Santos: Four queer women in their 30s who are exes-turned-best-friends navigate adulthood, love, friendship, chosen families, and everything in between.

PADAMLÁGAN (NIGHT LIGHT) by Jenn Romano: Five days before the proclamation of Martial Law, the Colgante Bridge collapsed in Naga, forcing a father into a desperate search for his missing son.

PAGLILITIS by Cheska Marfori: Years after experiencing sexual harassment at her workplace, a former executive assistant is persuaded by a passionate lawyer to file a case against her rich and highly respected boss.

RAGING by Ryan Machado: A young man’s quest for truth and justice intertwines with a plane crash mystery, uncovering a sinister plot that propels his desire to be heard but also threatens his community.

REPUBLIKA NG PIPOLIPINAS by Renei Dimla: When the local government threatens to evict her from her own land, a farmer renounces her Filipino citizenship and builds her own micronation.

WARLA by Kevin Alambra Kitkat: A 19-year-old transgender woman, finds the family she’s been longing for in a gang of sisters who kidnap foreign men to fund their gender-affirming surgeries, until their crimes force her to question the true cost of belonging.

Competing in the Short Films Category are “Ascension from the Office Cubicle” by Hannah Silvestre; “Figat” by Handiong Kapuno; “Hasang” by Daniel de la Cruz; “I’m Best Left Inside My Head” by Elian Idioma; “Kay Basta Angkarabo Yay Bagay Ibat Ha Langit” by Marie Estela Pais; “Kung Tugnaw ang Kaidalman Sang Lawod” by Seth Andrew Blanca; “Please Keep This Copy” by Miguel Lorenzo Peralta; “Radikals” by Arvin Belarmino; “The Next 24 Hours” by Carl Joseph Papa and “Water Sports” by Whammy Alcazaren.

In 2024, “Tumandok” was the biggest winner that centered on the struggle of the Ati indigenous people to reclaim their ancestral domain in Iloilo.

The film received five awards including Best Full Length Film, Felipe Ganancial as Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Original Music Score, and Network for the Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema (NETPAC) full-length feature award.

Tumandok is followed by Kono Basho with four awards in the Full Length Film category: Gabby Padilla as Best Actress, Jaime Pacena II as Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Production Design.

Alipato at Muog film on desaparecidos was given the Special Jury Award. It also recently received as FAMAS Best Picture and Best Director for JL Burgos.

The film centered on peasant activist Jonas Burgos as a “Desaparecido” who was abducted on April 28, 2007 in a crowded mall in Quezon City. The military has repeatedly denied any role in his disappearance.

I have been watching Cinemalaya since it started in 2004 which is held traditionally annually at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). However due to the ongoing rehabilitation of CCP, the festival is held outside the CCP building for the third year in a row.

The entries, often called “indie films,” embody Cinemalaya’s vision: “the creation of new cinematic works by Filipino filmmakers”—works that boldly articulate and freely interpret the Filipino experience with fresh insight and artistic integrity.

My passion in watching Cinemalaya films perhaps is an offshoot of my exposure to experimental films during my college years in the late ‘80s and ‘90s at UP Diliman where I saw several highly sensitive and political films.

The 21st Cinemalaya will be held from October 3 to 12, 2025 at the Shangri-La Plaza cinemas in Mandaluyong City.

(Peyups is the moniker of University of the Philippines Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the seafarers’ division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan law offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez.com, or call 0917-502580)