Why Cinemalaya 2025 almost didn’t happen

With the apt theme “Layag: Sa Alon, Hangin, at Unos,” loosely translated as  “sail on, amidst strong waves, winds, and storms,” the 21st edition of the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival almost didn’t happen due to financial constraints. 

Chris Millado, festival director for 11 years, compared the 2025 Cinemalaya to a balangay boat that nearly capsized.

“Yes, this year’s edition of Cinemalaya almost didn’t push through. According to the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), which is the conduit for the special allocation for Cinemalaya, their budget was cut by almost 70 percent, and along with the reduction was the Cinemalaya fund. The CCP, Cinemalaya, and Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) had to scramble for sourcing of funds to subsidize the 10 competing films,” Millado told The Diarist in an email interview over the weekend.

“All of the teams had to suspend production until we had the certainty of funds. This is the reason why we had to move the festival later to October, to allow for the production teams to make up for lost time,” Millado said. 

“With the help of the leadership of the CCP, the Cinemalaya Foundation, and continuing support from the FDCP, we were able to arrest the capsizing of the Cinemalaya balangay,” he added.

In the CCP calendar of events, it has become a tradition for the past 20 years that a month after the annual three week-long Virgin Labfest (VLF), which features untried, untested, and unstaged one-act-plays, the Cinemalaya festival follows. The VLF usually happens in mid-June to mid-July, so Cinemalaya is usually scheduled in August. There has been a two-month delay for the festival that gathers students, filmmakers, actors, and thousands of film enthusiasts under the roof of Tanghalang Pambansa or the CCP main building, which has been closed for renovation since 2022. 

In 2023, Cinemalaya’s main venue was the Philippine International Convention Center. The meeting rooms were converted for film showings, but the experience was not satisfactory since they were not really made for such purpose. Film viewing was a struggle, because the set-up was more like attending a seminar, wherein you only needed to listen without actually looking at the stage because heads of other attendees blocked your line of sight. So in 2024, Cinemalaya’s main venue was the movie houses of Ayala Malls Manila Bay in Parañaque City. It was better, but some Cinemalaya regulars complained that the mall was not that accessible to students. This has been remedied. 

Millado told The Diarist that since the Tanghalang Pambansa is still under construction, this year’s Cinemalaya will be held in accessible commercial theaters in various malls covering six cities in Metro Manila. The main venue is at the Red Carpet Cinemas of Shangri-La Edsa Plaza Mall, known to be the regular venue of the annual Spanish Film Festival, Japan International Film Festival, Cine Europa, the Silent Film Festival, and other international film festivals. 

“Cinemalaya is thankful for the cooperation of Ayala cinemas in 2024 and the Shangri-La, Gateway, and Ayala cinemas in 2025,” Millado added.

Since the Tanghalang Pambansa is still under construction, this year’s Cinemalaya will be held in accessible commercial theaters in various malls covering six cities in Metro Manila

Arrianne M. Nadurata, senior retail marketing manager of Shangri-La Plaza Corporation, said, “We are excited to serve as a flagship venue for Cinemalaya’s 21st edition, as it reflects our commitment to cultivating local film and cultural expression. As part of our Culture in Focus program, this marks the beginning of our partnership with Cinemalaya in bringing fresh and daring stories to our screens.”

As earlier announced, the 10 full-length films and 10 short film entries this year are set for screening from Oct. 3 to 12 at the Red Carpet Cinemas of Shangri-La Edsa Plaza Mall in Mandaluyong City as the main venue; the Gateway Cineplex 18 in Cubao, Quezon City; Ayala Malls Cinemas in Market Market Mall in Taguig City; UP Town Center on Katipunan Avenue, also in Quezon City; Ayala Malls Manila Bay in Parañaque City; and Ayala Malls Circuit in Makati City.

The Ayala Malls Cinemas, a steadfast partner of the CCP and Cinemalaya for over two decades, reaffirmed its commitment to Philippine cinema. 

Yvette Roldan, head of ancillary business and the cinemas, said, “Ayala Malls Cinemas is proud to continue its partnership with the CCP and Cinemalaya, serving as a home for Filipino artistry on the big screen. This enduring collaboration reflects our shared dedication to championing the voices of visionary Filipino filmmakers and celebrating the boundless spirit of local cinema. As Cinemalaya 21 unfolds, we are honored to showcase these powerful stories, uniting audiences in a timeless celebration of culture, creativity, and community.”

For Gateway Cineplex 18, Irene L. Jose, chief operating officer of Uniprom, Inc., said, “As a new venue partner of Cinemalaya, Gateway Cineplex 18 is committed to amplifying the unique and bold voices of independent filmmakers across the country. It’s an honor to host these important films within our theaters.”

We asked Millado the exact total amount needed to continue the festival.

“Around P25 million is needed to subsidize the films and run the festival. This does not include the amount the CCP usually puts in in terms of venue, technical, marketing, and administrative support. And since the CCP Main building has been closed for renovation since 2023, this meant additional monies had to be sourced out for sprucing up the venues,” Millado said.

“We’ll play it by ear if next year, we can go back to the CCP. The dream is to have a cinema complex dedicated to Filipino cinema and the exhibition of independent or art films, like the amazing Cinema Center of Busan. Kung mabawi ang mga bilyon-bilyon from ghost projects, kayang-kayang magtayo ng cinema center (If the billions lost to ghost projects can be recovered, we can easily build a cinema center),” Millado said.

From the more than 200 full-length story scripts and 336 short film submissions, Carlos Siguion-Reyna, who heads the monitoring of the production of the competition films, had to trim the numbers until they came up with 10 for the full-length and 10 for the short features. 

Cinemalaya Foundation president Laurice Guillen recounted the selection process that actually started in November, 2023. Due to the exciting line-up full of brilliant and new stories, they didn’t only select finalists for the 2025, but also covered the 2026 Cinemalaya. 

“There were submissions of more than 200 entries; one-on-one interviews and deliberations by a selection committee which came up with 20 semi-finalists; the three-month Film Lab, after which the selection committee came up with 10 finalists with finished screenplays; and finally, 20 months for the entire film-making process,” she said.

“Yes, the whole process—submission, development to final film—took about 20 months. That means, aside from the new films of Cinemalaya 2025, the work on the 2026 Batch has already begun. Twenty semifinalists are currently in the Film Lab. Ten finalists, whose scripts will be finished by October, will then be announced at the Closing Ceremony. Soon after, they will start pre-production, and their films will premiere next year. As you can see, it is a continuing cycle. 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,” Guillen added. 

There are many top actors appearing in Cinemalaya films, many from the theater community, like Dolly de Leon, and celebrities from other fields like OPM legend Ely Buendia. Millado said this year is really going to be exciting, aside from the new, intriguing stories, most of which are from the regions.

“We’ve really left the casting decisions to the directors and producers of the films. The participation of reputable personalities in entertainment, film, television and social media in the past years is indicative of how Cinemalaya films have become an important platform for artistic expression which many would like to be identified with,” said Millado.

Buendia is the lead character in Padamlagan by Jenn Romano, which is set in Naga City during the 1972 Colgante Bridge tragedy. Fans would know that Buendia spent his childhood years in Naga City and thus, can speak Bicolano. His iconic stature in the music industry may have overshadowed his foray into acting, but besides being a film major from the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, he has also directed short films and acted in Lav Diaz’s Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapis, Singaporean director Bradley Liew’s Singing In Graveyards (top-billed by Pepe Smith), and other indie films. 

Here, Buendia plays Doring, a father who searches for his missing son after the Colgante Bridge collapse, five days before the proclamation of Martial Law.  

From the film’s synopsis: “Through archives and memory, we see Doring, a devoted voyador, caught between faith, tradition, and the fractures within his own family. Every year, he joins thousands in Naga City’s fluvial procession for Our Lady of Peñafrancia, but this year feels different. His estranged son Ivan has just returned from Manila, restless and questioning, a presence both near and distant. On the day of the procession, the Colgante Bridge groans under the weight of the crowd. From the river below, Doring watches in horror as the bridge collapses and bodies plunge into the water, devotion unraveling into chaos. Ivan was on that bridge. 

There are many top actors appearing in Cinemalaya films, many from the theater community, like Dolly de Leon, and celebrities from other fields like OPM legend Ely Buendia 

“In the aftermath, Doring claws through wreckage, hospitals, and government offices, searching relentlessly for his son. But the system is broken: hospitals overwhelmed, records lost, officials indifferent. Families cling to hope while whispers spread—not all the missing drowned; some disappeared into something far darker. Five days later, Martial Law is declared, silencing grief and cementing the unresolved. Doring’s search becomes not only a father’s desperate act of love, but also a mirror of a nation’s haunting loss, one that lingers in memory and archives, unresolved, unforgotten.”

Dolly de Leon plays history professor Bea, one of the lead characters in Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan by Dustin Celestino. It is about how Filipinos confront the slow erasure of memory and truth in a country devoured by disinformation.

The synopsis read: “Four Filipinos cope with life after a painful political defeat. Kiko, a political strategist, questions the purpose of his lifelong struggle. Bea, a history professor, attempts to teach a past her country would rather forget. David, a disillusioned speechwriter, becomes entrapped by the very lies he tries to challenge. Mela, an election lawyer, confronts family secrets she has long avoided. Each one searches for purpose as truths fade, histories blur, and memory itself becomes an act of defiance.”

Though conceptualized before the massive systemic corruption in the Department of Public Works and Highways’ flood-control programs, the film’s premise is spot on. 

Celestino, who also wrote the script, said, “The film is about hope: how it is lost and how it is regained. In our story, characters confront the devastating loss of hope brought on by recent events that shatter their belief in a fair and just world. With this loss, they find it difficult to act, to believe, and even to love. Yet it is precisely in these moments of despair that our film seeks to grapple with a profound question: Why should one make personal sacrifices to do good in a world that rewards evil?

“Our answer is this: Because only in doing good do we create meaning and beauty in chaos. When hope can no longer be found in the outside world, it must come from within, not as a fleeting emotion, but as a creative and defiant decision, a divine will to create light out of darkness. Hope inspires us to act, to believe, and to love. So even if the struggle against evil and injustice lasts a lifetime, a life lived with love, belief, and action toward goodness is a life of immeasurable value and meaning,” he added.

“Through this film, we aim to remind our audience—especially Filipinos burdened by injustice and disillusionment—that hope is not just a gift; it is a choice. Our film is a call to live with purpose in the face of despair, to find strength in our shared humanity, and to create light even when surrounded by shadows. This is the message I hope to impart, a message I believe resonates deeply with what many Filipinos need to hear today,” Celestino said.

Besides Celestino’s Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan and Romano’s Padamlagan, the other eight among the 10 films in competition in the full-length category are Bloom Where You are Planted, by Nonilon Abao, Child No. 82 by Tim Rone Villanueva, Cinemartyrs by Sari Dalena, Paglilitis by Cheska Marfori and Raymund Barcelon, Open Endings by Nigel Santos and Keavy Vicente, Republika ng ‘Pipolipinas’ by Renei Dimla, Raging by Ryan Machado, and Warla by Kevin Alambra.

The list of short features includes 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 Paiso, Kung Tugnaw ang Kaidalman Sang Lawod by Seth Andrew Blanca, Please Keep This Copy by Miguel Lorenzo Peralta, Radicals by Arvin Belarmino, The Next 24 Hours by Carl Joseph Papa, and Water Sports by Whammy Alcazaren.

The festival has been known for including restored classics, past Cinemalaya festival winners, a tribute retrospective for a well-known filmmaker, some of the best of Asian films and others, but this time they are focused on the competing films. We asked Millado if it’s a good or bad thing.  

“Yes and no. Yes, the funding situation forced us to focus on the core offering of Cinemalaya, which is the competition films. But we find the programming of exhibition films important in serving the broader goal of providing a platform for independently produced films which impact film appreciation among our audiences,” he told The Diarist. 

There will also be book launches: Manong: The Life and Works of Gerardo de Leon by Dr. Nicanor G. Tiongson; Agaw-Tingin (Stolen Glances) and Pinilakang Tabing (Silver Screen) by National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts Ricky Lee; and Letters from the Future: 35 Years of the Gawad CCP para sa Alternatibong Pelikula at Video, published by CCP through its Film, Broadcast, and New Media Division.

The opening film on Oct. 3 at Red Carpet Cinemas is The Elysian Field, a NETPAC Award-winning film by Indian filmmaker Pradip Kurbah. The film follows the six remaining residents of a secluded Meghalaya village as they cope with grief and loneliness in the face of urban migration. Set against the tranquil landscapes of futuristic 2047 in the East Khasi hills, The Elysian Field is a slice-of-life film following the journey of Livingstone and his fellow villagers as they bond over their shared experiences of love and longing, finding solace in each other’s company.

In her speech during the news conference, CCP President Kaye Tinga acknowledged the difficulty faced by the festival, centering on the theme “Layag: Sa Alon, Hangin, at Unos”.

“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. Patuloy pa rin sa paglalayag ang pelikulang Pilipino,” Tinga said. 

“For over two decades now, Cinemalaya has served as both compass and vessel for our filmmakers, who navigate stories that speak of truth, identity, struggle, and of course, hope. From intimate portraits of the Filipino to bold confrontations with social injustice, the films we premiere here are not just art; they are acts of courage. This year, we are proud to continue that tradition of bold storytelling. Cinemalaya 21 promises another wave of compelling narratives, all crafted by voices that refuse to be silenced—voices that persist and continue to rise amid the strongest of unos,” she added.

“While the CCP Main Building continues its rehabilitation, Cinemalaya finds new shores where our stories can find a new home to thrive. We express our deepest gratitude to such a new home—the Shangri-La Plaza. To our filmmakers, partners, sponsors, media friends, and of course, our audiences, thank you for braving the tides with us and standing with us even in the storm. The seas may be rough, the winds strong, and the storm unrelenting—but still, we sail,” Tinga said. 

For schedules and ticket inquiries, visit the CCP website (www.culturalcenter.gov.ph) and the Cinemalaya website (www.cinemalaya.org). Follow the official CCP and Cinemalaya Facebook pages and other social media accounts on X, Instagram, and TikTok.