For more than two decades, the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival has cemented its place as one of the country’s most prestigious showcases for Filipino cinema. It’s helped launch and support the careers of numerous directors and writers, including Jerrold Tarog, Pepe Diokno, and Antoinette Jadaone. Films from Cinemalaya often go on to screen at festivals around the world.
Now in its 22nd year, Cinemalaya returns with a fascinating slate of social dramas, dark comedies, horror films, and stories that are harder to define. We encourage you to catch as many of the full-length and short films in competition as possible. But for those with limited time who need help narrowing down their schedules, here are five picks we can’t wait to see at Cinemalaya 22:
1. Enjoy Your Stay
After its world premiere at the illustrious Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year, Honeylyn Joy Alipio and Dominik Locher’s drama is set to open Cinemalaya 22.
The film follows Luz, played by Mercedes Cabral, an undocumented Filipina cleaner working at a Swiss ski resort. Her life is turned upside down when her ex-husband and daughter appear on a Filipino reality show, where he demands full custody of their child. Determined to bring her daughter back, Luz promises to do whatever it takes, even if it means crossing her own moral boundaries.
2. Mag-Iina (The Mothering)
Dagitab director Giancarlo Abrahan’s new horror drama follows a woman who returns to her family’s ancestral home as the 40th day of her estranged father’s death approaches. What she finds is a home suspended in grief and madness as three generations of women collide.
One of the more star-studded entries in this year’s lineup, Mag-Iina features Janine Gutierrez, Lucas Andalio, Cherry Pie Picache, Agot Isidro, and Jackie Lou Blanco. The film is based on writer Guelan Varela-Luarca’s Palanca-winning play Corridors, which makes its mix of family tension, grief, and horror even more intriguing.
3. Ganggang
Two years after winning the Special Jury Prize at Cinemalaya XX for the tragic but important documentary Alipato at Muog, filmmaker JL Burgos makes his narrative feature debut with Ganggang.
The coming-of-age drama follows three boys who form an unlikely friendship while searching for a fighting spider to challenge the school bully’s prized one, set against a backdrop of human rights violations and armed conflict in the Philippines.
4. 2 Valid IDs
Marietta Subong, better known as Pokwang, stars as Sylvia, a poor farmer caught in an impossible situation. To claim money sent by a relative for her husband’s medical treatment, Sylvia must present two valid IDs, problem is that she doesn’t have a single one.
With few options left, she turns to a fixer for help. What follows is a searing social drama about bureaucracy, poverty, and a system that asks vulnerable people to prove who they are before giving them the help they need.
Ma-an L. Asuncion-Dagñalan, who won Best Director at Cinemalaya in 2022 for Blue Room, teams up with FAMAS-winning screenwriter Abet Pagdagdagan Raz for this timely story about broken systems and the moral compromises people are forced to make just to survive.
5. The Shorts
The short film programs can be easy to overlook at a festival, but they’re often home to some of its most artistic, unusual, and memorable work. They’re also where audiences can discover emerging filmmakers and fresh voices before everyone else does.
For its 22nd edition, Cinemalaya presents two short film programs featuring stories from different genres and fields, including documentary and animation. Don’t leave them out when planning your festival schedule.
This is just a small selection of what you can watch at Cinemalaya this year. Other main competition titles include:
- A.ni.mál, a black comedy about small towns and government cover-ups
- Hand of God, a drama about a child soldier finding refuge in football
- Kaka sa Yawan, a coming-of-age story about two friends in Mindoro
- Status: Rejected, a family dramedy about online dating starring Ruby Ruiz and Alessandra de Rossi
- Tayo Lang ang Nakakaalam, a drama about a queer couple in a crisis
- Tirik, a thriller set in Manila’s streets during the height of the drug war
The festival will close with Sundance Film Festival award winner Filipiñana, a film we’ve previewed in our Screen Picks for August.
Celebrate Philippine independent cinema at the 22nd Cinemalaya Film Festival, running from August 6 to 18, with screenings in Shangri-La Plaza, Gateway, and various Ayala Malls. For the full program, schedule and ticket information, visit https://www.cinemalaya.org/.