| Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival | |
|---|---|
Festival logo |
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| Location | Manila, Philippines |
| Number of films | 10 |
| Language | Filipino and other Philippine languages |
| Official website | |
The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival is a film festival in the Philippines held annually in the month of July at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Its aim is the development and promotion of Filipino independent film. The film festival is organized by the Cinemalaya Foundation, with the support of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Econolink Investments, Inc.
Each year, the Festival awards grants of Php 500,000 (USD 10,000~) to ten independent filmmakers. These ten "finalists" are culled from hundreds of submissions from all over the Philippines. Their films debut at the festival, together with in-competition short films, as well as various out-of-competition works.
The festival organizing committee is headed by veteran Filipino director and actress Laurice Guillen. The organizers hope that through the festival, young filmmakers will be able to "express their own concepts freely and not be limited by the industry's present condition, where artistic integrity is sacrificed in the pursuit of commercial success."[1]
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The 2008 (4th edition) of the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival with theme Anong Kwento Mo? (Filipino, "What's your story?") showcased eight competing full-length entries and ten competing short films from July 11-20, 2008.[2]
The full-length line-up consisted of:
Starring in the full-length entries were Filipino celebrities Mylene Dizon, Eugene Domingo, Tessie Tomas, TJ Trinidad, Ryan Eigenmann, Baron Geisler, Coco Martin, Ces Quesada, and Meryll Soriano. Adolfo Alix Jr.’s Adela opened the 2008 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival.[3]
In 2008, the finalist-filmmakers received an additional Php 100,000 from the Film Development Council of the Philippines, in addition to the Cinemalaya grant. Ranchero had been chosen to take part in the Paris Project of the Festival Paris Cinema in July.[4]
The jury members were:
In July 2009, the following ten finalists were screened:
In this edition, director-producer Pepe Diokno, at 21 years, became the youngest person to ever win a Cinemalaya grant. His film, Engkwentro also became Cinemalaya's most successful release, taking two major awards at the 2009 Venice International Film Festival, including the Lion of the Future - "Luigi de Laurentiis" Award for Debut Film and the Horizons Prize - Best Picture - with Diokno becoming the youngest Filipino to win at the world's oldest film festival.
Since 2005, ABC 5 has been the only Free TV Channel that premieres Cinemalaya. It is seen every Tuesday at 7pm.