The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
by Boy Villasanta
After almost four years of inactivity because of social chaos brought about by a national health emergency, the independent filmmaking industry is alive again with the seventh edition of the Sinag Maynila Film Festival, an annual project spearheaded by Solar Entertainment under the management of Wilson Tieng and the internationally acclaimed filmmaker Brillante Ma. Mendoza, Palme d’Or Best Director.
Although the sixth edition of Sinag Maynila was pushed through, this year’s celebration is a sort of an extended version of it because more films, especially documentaries and shorts, are on pageantry.
COVID-19 pandemic had deterred the production of local films but the last two years saw the rise in quantity and quality of the harvests.
The 2025 Sinag Maynila prides itself with a selection of five full-length films that speak of conquest, redemption and freedom, namely:
“Altar Boy,” directed by Serville Poblete and stars Mark Bacolcol, Shai Barcia and Pablo S. J. Quiogue tells of a passive-natured teenager struggles to navigate the school year while trying to break free from the persona built around his religious upbringing;
“Jeongbu,” directed by Topel Lee and features Aljur Abrenica, Ritz Azul and Empress Shuck narrates the story of an evil element who wants to change the personality of Ethan’s wife and make her love him more than her own. ‘Jeongbu’ is a Korean word that also means ‘mistress’;
“Madawag ang Landas Patungong Pag-asa (The Teacher),” directed by Joel Lamangan and showcases Rita Daniela, Jak Roberto and Albie Casino forays into the microcosm of a rural place where three years after a shooting incident and the pandemic shut down the elementary school in a remote village, a new teacher arrives and struggles to persuade the children to go back to class, and to work with a community used to the “old ways”;
“Cande,” directed by Kevin Pison Piamonte and top bills Gian G. Pomperada, JC Santos and Sunshine Teodoro brings forth a slice of life in Iloilo where a successful Filipino chef in New York returns to his hometown for his childhood best friend’s funeral, where he must confront a tragic past and the possibility of long-overdue forgiveness amid the backdrop of a vibrant hometown fiesta;
And “Selda Tres (Cell Number 3),” directed by GB Sampedro and teams up Carla Abellana, JM de Guzman and Cesar Montano together delineates an interesting denouement after a brief and wrongful incarceration, a law office messenger helps defend his former cellmates in court as a paralegal.
There are also many doc and short films selected from among student and open call entrants.
Some of the theaters the fest is screening are Gateway, Robinsons Antipolo, SM Fairview, SM Mall of Asia,
The 2025 Sinag Maynila ends on August 30, 2025.