Limelight

The 21st edition of the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival which brought with it not just a fresh slate of bold, boundary-pushing Filipino films, but also a broader cinematic footprint has ended. To open more doors to Cinemalaya’s growing community of storytellers and cinephiles, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and Cinemalaya Foundation Inc. continue to nurture its two-decades-old …

MANILA, PHILIPPINES—Following the success of its first Metro Manila leg at Shangri-La Plaza, the Japanese Film Festival (JFF) 2025 returns to one of its longtime partner venues—the UPFI Cine Adarna—and, for the first time, expands its reach to SM City Manila, marking an exciting milestone for the festival’s growing audience in the capital. Previously closed for renovations during JFF’s February …

What’s in store for Philippine cinema the rest of the year as many films are scheduled to be released in the next remaining few months? ​Is it still right to say that the local movie industry is in doldrums? And what happens to cynics who have been saying that Pinoy movies are dead? ​Or the naysayers are doomed themselves? Consider …

by Boy Villasanta Excusing himself for a while from the promotional campaign of the biopic “Quezon,” Jericho Rosales recently flew to Africa to celebrate his birthday. It was a colorful and memorable trip for Jericho because he’s not only back in Africa for the third time to relish his palatable b-day prep-up and eventual ceremony but he was with the …

While the multi-colored lights blinked and the hustle and bustle of party-goers filled the air I found myself talking to this loquacious lady in brunet hair, brown shirt and tattered stone-washed jeans. “After my release from detention at the Pasig City Jail I resumed what I love most doing well, hosting,” volunteered this smart girl whom I would later come …

The Goethe-Institut proudly presents the fourth edition of its annual German film festival, KinoFest, taking place across Southeast Asia and the Pacific from October to November 2025. This year’s program brings the newest German films to audiences in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Thailand, Vietnam, and Timor Leste. KinoFest 2025 offers a diverse line-up spanning documentary, adventure, drama, …

by Boy Villasanta It takes a school teacher to redirect the path a remote barrio has embarked to attain progress in many levels of its rural life. This is the defining moment of the film “Madawag ang Landas Patungong Pag-asa” that won the Best Film plum at the awards night of the 7th Sinag Maynila Film Festival held at Gateway …

by Boy Villasanta Because “Food Delivery Fresh from the West Philippine Sea” which was a selection from the 2025 Cine Panalo Film Festival but was dropped from its roll, cancelled its screening at the last minute, embargoed for years by the organizer itself, the producer, Voyage Films, deemed it right to market and promote it by themselves. The power couple …

Deja vu. These twin rallies in Metro Manila commemorating the 53rd anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law. The “Trillion Peso March” at the People Power Monument in EDSA and the “Bahain ang Luneta: Aksyon Laban sa Korapsyon” at Rizal Park constituted a collective outpouring of anger and disgust of the Filipinos against erring public officials who are supposed to …

After Luneta, I went straight to EDSA. By two o’clock in the afternoon, the stretch from Shaw Boulevard to EDSA Shrine in Ortigas Avenue to Santolan/Boni Serrano Avenue, was filled with people although as early as the break of dawn, there were already marchers on the highway. Varied chants filled the air: “Mga Kurakot, Ikulong na ‘Yan (Corrupt, Jail Them),” “Jinggoy, …