QCinema 2025 Unveils “Film City” Lineup

By Isabella Cuartero

QCinema International Film Festival (QCIFF) returns for its 13th edition, celebrating Quezon City’s vital role in Philippine cinema—both its storied past and its dynamic present.

Carrying the theme “Film City,” this year’s festival gathers exceptional films from around the world across nine full-length sections and five shorts programs. Many of the selections explore the art and craft of filmmaking itself—cinema about cinema, stories about storytellers, and the transformative power of moving images to reshape how we see the world.

Screenings will take place across six venues in Quezon City—Gateway, Eastwood, TriNoma, Fishermall, Cloverleaf, and Robinsons Galleria—transforming the city once again into the country’s epicenter of cinema this November.

Festival tickets are priced at ₱250 per screening, with the event running from November 14 to 23, 2025. QCinema artistic director Ed Lejano announced during the October 21 media launch that weekday first screenings at all venues—excluding Gateway Mall—will be free of charge, with senior citizen discounts still honored. Supported by the Quezon City local government, the initiative seeks to make the festival experience more inclusive and accessible to Filipino audiences.

The festival opens with Couture by Alice Winocour, starring Angelina Jolie. This film within a film follows an American director arriving in Paris during Fashion Week.

Competition Sections

Leading this year’s QCinema lineup are its competition sections: Asian Next Wave, the main competition spotlighting powerful new voices from Asia; RainbowQC, a platform for queer perspectives that challenge and inspire; New Horizons, which showcases debut and second features pushing the boundaries of global cinema; and QCShorts International, which spotlights emerging directors from Southeast Asia working in the short film format.

Asian Wave

• A Useful Ghost by Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke (Thailand, France, Singapore, Germany)
• Diamonds in the Sand by Janus Victoria (Japan, Malaysia, Philippines)
• Family Matters by Pan Ke-yin (Taiwan)
• Ky Nam Inn by Leon Le (Vietnam)
• Lost Land by Akio Fujimoto (Japan, France, Malaysia, Germany)
• Luz by Flora Lau (China, Hong Kong)
• Open Endings by Nigel Santos (Philippines)
• Renoir by Chie Hayakawa (Japan)
• The World of Love by Yoon Ga-Eun (South Korea)

RainbowQC

• 3670 by Park Joon-Ho (South Korea)
• Bel Ami by Geng Jun (France, Taiwan)
• Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingoes by Diego Céspedes (Chile)
• On the Road by David Pablos (Mexico)
• Skin of Youth by Ash Mayfair (Vietnam, Singapore, Japan)
• Strange River by Jaume Claret Muxart (Spain, Germany)
• Summer’s Camera by Divine Sung (South Korea)
• The Little Sister by Hafsia Herzi (France, Germany)

New Horizons

• Amoeba by Siyou Tan (Singapore, Netherlands, France, Spain, South Korea)
• Blue Heron by Sophy Romvari (Canada, Hungary, USA)
• Brand New Landscape by Danzuka Yuiga (Japan)
• Chronology of Water by Kristen Stewart (USA, France, Latvia)
• DJ Ahmet by Georgi Unkovski (North Macedonia, Czechia, Serbia, Croatia)
• Lucky Lu by Lloyd Lee Choi (Canada, USA)
• Manas by Marianna Brennand (Brazil, Portugal)
• On Your Lap by Reza Rahadian (Indonesia)
• The President’s Cake by Hasan Hadi (Iraq, USA, Qatar)

QCShorts International

• Hoy, Hoy, Ingat! (Hey, Hey, Take Care!) by Norvin de los Santos (Philippines) — QCinema grantee
• Ours Was A Timeless Night Burning by Lauviah Caliboso (Philippines) — QCinema grantee
• RUNO! by Racquel “Lysa” Catolico and Jazmine Gin Pateña (Philippines) — QCinema grantee;
• Si Kara: Ang Babaye Nga Nag Daba-Daba (Kara: The Burning Woman) by Dale (Philippines) — QCinema grantee;
• Surface Tension by The Serrano Sisters (Philippines) — QCinema grantee
• Yelo by Gab Rosique (Philippines) — QCinema grantee
• A Metamorphosis by Lin Htet Aung (Myanmar)
• Agapito by Arvin Belarmino and Kyla Danelle Romero (Philippines, France)
• As If To Nothing by Pek Jia Ho and Ang Jia Jung (Singapore);
• Baby Fat by Margarita Mina (Philippines, USA)
• Before the Sea Forgets by Lê Ngọc Duy (Singapore)
• Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites by Chheangkea (Cambodia, France, USA)
• Honey, My Love, So Sweet by JT Trinidad (Philippines)
• In the Valley by Lim Han Loong (Malaysia)
• Little Rebels Cinema Club by Khozy Rizal (Indonesia)
• My Plastic Mother by Amar Haikal (Indonesia)
• Please P(r)ay Attention by Vasupol Suwanjuta (Thailand)
• Sammi, Who Can Detach His Body Parts by Rein Maychaelson (Indonesia)
• Visiting Heaven Gate by Nghiêm Quỳnh Trang (Vietnam, Czech Republic)
• Vox Humana by Don Josephus Eblahan (Philippines, USA, Singapore)
• When the Blues Goes Marching In by Beny Kristia (Indonesia)

Exhibition Sections

Completing the lineup are QCinema’s Exhibition Sections, showcasing the breadth and diversity of world cinema. 

The Screen International section, one of the festival’s most awaited, features acclaimed titles fresh from the global festival circuit. Before Midnight offers restored classics and rediscovered gems, while Rediscovery brings timeless masterpieces back to the big screen for a new generation. QC Selects celebrates homegrown films that have made waves in other local and international festivals. QCShorts International (Exhibition) spotlights the world’s most exciting auteurs working within the short film format.

Making their debut this year are Dokyu Days, QCinema’s new non-fiction showcase dedicated to powerful and thought-provoking documentaries, and Focus On: Sandra Hüller, spotlighting the extraordinary range of the acclaimed German actress.

Screen International

• Couture by Alice Winocour (USA)
• Divine Comedy by Ali Asgari (Iran, Italy, France, Germany, Turkey)
• Hamnet by Chloé Zhao (USA, UK)
• History of Sound by Oliver Hermanus (UK, USA, Sweden)
• Little Amélie by Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han (Belgium)
• Once Upon a Time in Gaza by Tarzan and Arab Nasser (Palestine, France)
• Sirat by Oliver Laxe (Spain, France)
• The Things You Kill by Alireza Kahatami (Turkey, Canada, France, Poland)

Before Midnight

• The Garden of Earthly Delights by Morgan Knibbe (Netherlands, Philippines, Belgium)
• Rabbit Trap by Bryn Chainey (USA, UK)
• Ugly Stepsister by Emilie Blichfeldt (Norway, Poland, Sweden, Denmark)

Rediscovery 

• Almost Famous by Cameron Crowe (USA)
• Linda Linda Linda by Nobuhiro Yamashita (Japan)
• Showgirls by Paul Verhoeven (USA)

QC Selects

• Call My Manager by Erik Matti (Philippines)
• Human Resource by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit (Thailand)
• Lakambini: Gregoria de Jesus by Arjanmar Rebeta and Jeffrey Jeturian (Philippines)
• Rental Family by Hikari (USA/Japan)
• Shadow Transit by Pedring Lopez (Philippines)
• The Richest Woman in the World by Thierry Klifa (France, Belgium)

Dokyu Days

• Below the Clouds by Gianfranco Rosi (Italy)
• 10s Across the Borders by Sze-Wei Chan (Philippines, Singapore, Germany)
• The Road to Sydney by Benito Bautista (USA)
• Treasure Hunter by Giacomo Gex (USA)
• The Voice of Hind Rajab by Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia, France, USA)

Focus On: Sandra Hüller

• Requiem by Hans-Christian Schmid (Germany)
• The Zone of Interest by Jonathan Glazer (UK, Poland, USA)
• Toni Erdmann by Maren Ade (Germany, Austria, Monaco, Romania, France, Switzerland, Belgium)
• Two to One by Natja Brunckhorst (Germany)
• Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet (France)

QCShorts International (Exhibition)

• A Very Straight Neck by Neo Sora (Japan, China)
• An Orange from Jaffa by Mohammed Almughanni (Palestine, Poland)
• God is Shy by Jocelyn Charles (France)
• Razeh-del by Maryam Tafakory (Iran, UK, Italy)
• We Were the Scenery by Christopher Radcliff (USA, Canada)