ENTERTAINMENT NEWS, REVIEWS
Director Alpha Habon shifts from comedy to drama with his Cinemalaya film Kaka Sa Yawan. Centered on Tadyawan-Mangyan heritage, the film stars Beaver Magtalas and Nicolo Mercader in a moving story about friendship, grief, healing, and unfulfilled promises.
Fresh off its acclaimed world premiere in the Berlinale Panorama section of the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival, Dominik Locher’s latest feature film, Enjoy Your Stay, has been officially selected to open the 22nd Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival. Presented by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) in collaboration with Belgium-based sales agent Be For Films, the film boasts a compelling screenplay penned by Honeylyn Joy Alipio. Local audiences can catch the film’s grand Philippine Premiere on August 6, 2026, at 7:30 PM at the Red Carpet Cinemas 1 & 2 in Shangri-La Plaza, with admission offered completely free to the public.
Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival is bolstering its support for Filipino filmmakers by introducing—for the first time ever—the new Panorama Shorts Section, which will feature previously completed short films from both professional and student filmmakers.
Making a feature film just got a lot easier for this year’s Puregold CinePanalo filmmakers. CMB Film Services is officially back on board as a festival partner, and they are bringing a massive budget boost with them by raising their equipment rental grants to a cool PHP 1.25 million per project—marking a PHP 250,000 bump from last year.
The QCinema Pride Film Festival returns this June with a lineup of seven acclaimed LGBTQIA+ features from nine countries, bringing together stories of love, identity, desire, belonging, and resistance from some of the most exciting voices in contemporary cinema.
The QCinema Pride Film Festival returns this June with a lineup of seven acclaimed LGBTQIA+ features from nine countries, bringing together stories of love, identity, desire, belonging, and resistance from some of the most exciting voices in contemporary cinema. The program features recent winners from film festivals in Berlin, Busan, Jeonju, and Manila, spanning romance, psychological drama, comedy, animation, and thriller.
After a triumphant run at the 2025 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival, the deeply resonant film Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan is finally set for its wide theatrical release on June 3.
The QCinema International Film Festival has announced the recipients of its 2026 QCShorts grant, distributing ₱3.5 million ($57,817) across five short film projects by Filipino filmmakers based in the Philippines.
The selected filmmakers and their projects are: Carla Pulido Ocampo (“Agsangit Laeng ti Al-alia”), Clister Santos (“Sana’y Nandito Ka”), Maki Makilan (“Body Works”), Rodiell Veloso (“Run Shirley Run!”), and Toni Cañete (“Maanaa Kanimo”).
Puregold CinePanalo is partnering with post-production house Terminal Six Post to award post-production grants to the seven full-length feature films making their debut at the 2026 CinePanalo Film Festival. Each film will receive a Terminal Six Post voucher worth PHP100,000, which can be applied toward a range of post-production services, helping filmmakers elevate their final outputs for theatrical exhibition.
Joross Gamboa (Deadma Walking, Hello, Love, Goodbye), Rita Daniela (Huling Ulan sa Tag-Araw) and child actor Zion Cruz have joined Abello in his third feature-length film, ‘Wantawsan.’ Also part of the cast is TV, movie and theater veteran, Raffy R. Tejada.