Hot on the success of the recently-concluded “Cinemalaya Bente: Loob Lalim Lakas,” the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Cinemalaya Foundation Inc. have already set the artistic stakes even higher with the 10 new full-length finalists who will be competing in the country’s pioneering independent film festival in 2025.
For its 21st edition, Cinemalaya will continue to uphold its vision to develop and support the production of cinematic works of Filipino independent filmmakers that boldly articulate and freely interpret the Filipino experience with fresh insight and artistic integrity, with new narratives that embody the ever-evolving landscape of Filipino cinema.
The 2025 finalists, culled from the 20 semi-finalists, are still undergoing training at the Cinemalaya Film Lab, a three-month-long film-laboratory mentorship program meant to prime the finalists in the different aspects of filmmaking such as scriptwriting, directing, cinematography, performance, editing, production design, sound, music, production management, and promotion strategies, among others.
The 10 finalists of the Cinemalaya Main Competition (Full-Length Category) are:
“Abanse” by Chad Vidanes unfolds the night before local elections, when a single mother takes her son to a final campaign rally to get his lost scholarship back – unaware that in the midst of the dense crowd, a morbid disaster awaits them.
“Bloom Where You Are Planted” by Noni Abao is about how three land rights activists contend with their volatile notions of home amid terror and red-tagging in Cagayan Valley.
“Child No. 82” by Tim Rone Villanueva shows what happens during the wake of the biggest action-fantasy movie star of Philippine Cinema when a persevering 16-year-old high school student needs to prove that he is his 82nd child.
“Cinemartyrs” by Sari Dalena shows a young filmmaker bent on recreating forgotten massacres from Philippine history. But when she begins shooting at a site where 1,000 men, women, and children were slaughtered, 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 shows four Filipinos grappling with their place in the world and struggling to come to terms with the new realities they are faced with. The film is an existentialist drama where people who have lost hope attempt to find meaning in an absurd, indifferent, and paradoxical universe.
“Open Endings” by Nigel Santos and Keavy Eunice Vicente is about the friendship of four queer women, who are exes-turned-best friends. Their relationship is put to the test when one of them makes an impulsive and potentially life-changing decision.
“Padamlágan” by Jenn Romano shows what happens five days before the declaration of Martial Law. The collapse of the Colgante Bridge in Naga forced Doring, a father, to confront his deepest fear – the loss of his son, Ivan, in a tragedy that recalls the darkness of the past.
“Paglilitis” by Raymund Barcelon and Cheska Marfori shows a former executive assistant, persuaded by a passionate lawyer, filing a case against her rich and highly respected boss.
“Republika ng Pipolipinas” by Renei Dimla is about a farmer who renounces her Filipino citizenship and builds her own micronation.
“Warla” by Kevin Alambra and Arah Badayos is about a group of transgender women who belong to a gang. They kidnap foreign men to fund their gender-affirming surgery, not knowing that their quest to free themselves to be who they are may end with them in prison.
