Cinemalaya 2025 goes to Shangri-La Plaza

Lineup filled with star-studded films

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THE 21* edition of the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival will screen full-length and short feature films in a competition at Shangri-La Plaza in Mandaluyong City.

With the theme “Layag sa alon, hangin, at unos” (To sail through waves, wind, and storms), the festival will have 10 full-length films and 10 short features in competition. It will run from Oct. 3 to 12.

“The whole process — from submission to development to the final films — took about 20 months. That means that, as we introduce to you today the new films of Cinemalaya 2025, work on the 2026 batch has already begun. Twenty semifinalists are currently in the film lab,” said film director Laurice Guillen, Cinemalaya Foundation president, during a press conference on Sept. 3 at Shangri-La Plaza.

“As you can see, it is a continuing cycle. After 20 years of Cinemalaya, you can say it’s been a never-ending process,” she added.

Ms. Guillen also told the press that this year’s edition is “downscaled,” without special screenings, talkbacks, and other festival events. This means that the mall will function mainly as a screening or premiere venue, compared to the usual expansive venue of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Main Building, which is still under rehabilitation, which used to host multiple events.

“Our focus is really on the competition films this year,” she said.

Chris B. Millado, Cinemalaya’s festival director added that the theme references the “creative wind that has pushed the Cinemalaya balangay forward,” referring to the large traditional boat, and the “wave after wave of new breeds of filmmakers and storytellers over the years.”

“Cinemalaya almost capsized because of challenges in terms of funding, but because of the leadership of the CCP, the Cinemalaya Foundation, and continuing support from the FDCP (Film Development Council of the Philippines), we were able to arrest the capsizing of the Cinemalaya balangay,” he said.