Warm bodies are back in filmfest theaters with a vengeance, after having been deprived of physical attendance during most of the pandemic years.
The Society of Filipino Film Reviewers cite eleven festivals in particular that provided cinephiles with excellent programming of both local and international cinematic full-length and short gems.
Still on top for the seventh straight year, the Quezon City International Film Festival continue to pamper serious movie buffs with a slew of international film festival favorites, as well as a great batch of home-grown short films.
Hot on QCinema’s heels is Cinemalaya 2023, deemed by many filmgoing circles as arguably the best-ever Cinemalaya batch. Of the five Pinoy Rebyu Best Film nominees for 2023, four come from Cinemalaya.
The year-ending Metro Manila Film Festival was also much critically lauded and commercially successful, premiering both the all-time highest-grossing local film Rewind, and quality crowd-pleasers GomBurZa and Firefly.
Below are the 6 filmfests that regaled movie audiences in 2023.
1 – Quezon City International Film Festival (81 points)
Ralph Regis, SFFR: “The QCinema International Film Festival continues offering the best of world cinema to be experienced on the big screen while highlighting Filipino filmmakers from the QCShorts and QCSEA Shorts competitions. Additionally, the 2023 edition of the festival also spearheaded its inaugural QCinema Critics Lab, an avenue for up-and-coming film critics to deepen their grasp on film criticism, especially for modern sensibilities.”
2 – Cinemalaya Film Festival (66 points)
Paul Enicola, SFFR: “I’ve always regarded Cinemalaya as the pinnacle of quality Filipino films, with its unwavering support of independent movies being the primary reason. Despite that, I’ve never had the chance to attend any of the previous Cinemalaya festivals — or the majority of the local film fests, for that matter. With my film work mainly focusing on Western films, it wasn’t until a couple of years ago when I joined SFFR that I began to see the value of Philippine cinema up close.
Taking an active part in local film festivals last year, my high regard for Cinemalaya was validated. By having among its lineup the film that I consider one of the best of world cinema in 2023; if anything, my esteem for it deepened even more.”
3 – Metro Manila Film Festival (39 points)
Jay Lacanilao, SFFR: “Waiting in line to watch a movie with your fam isn’t always a good feeling but realizing that moviegoers are back after years of lockdown makes the wait worthwhile. Cinema is alive in the PH. MMFF 2023 is our Barbenheimer. The moviegoing event of last year.”
4 – Gawad Alternatibo (21 points)
Skilty Labastilla, SFFR: “While Cinemalaya is the much more celebrated August filmfest in the country, hardcore cinephiles and up-and-coming filmmakers congregate in the back doors and more intimate venues in CCP (and, last year, PICC) for the annual Gawad Alternatibo, considered to be the biggest break for short filmmakers because of its hefty cash prizes in four categories: live action, documentary, animation, and experimental.
In 2023, the filmfest was wonderfully complemented by Gawad Altipunan, a congress of film lectures, workshops, book launches, and special screenings, ably organized by UPFI’s Jaja Arumpac and the CCP Team.”
5 – Cinema Rehiyon (14 points)
Manuel Pangaruy, SFFR: “This NCCA-initiated film festival, after missing about 14 or so iterations (probably there was one that I’ve been to when it was hosted in CCP), I realized during its Baguio leg last March 2023, is accomplishing a lot of things.
First, it is some kind of a reunion for those in the filmmaking industry, be it for feature-length or short films, from all over the Philippines. So imagine the filmmakers or regional film festival programmers from as far as Cebu or Davao flocking their way to Baguio to celebrate films and the camaraderie (yes, there were drinking sessions!).
The other purpose is to screen films that are mostly given a chance to be shown in its originating region or in Metro Manila only during other film festivals like Cinemalaya, QCinema or CCP’s Gawad Alternatibo. The target audience is mostly students as there were multiple screenings with talkback in campuses like University of Baguio and UP Baguio. They also curated talks addressed to those taking up Film, with the likes of Jade Castro sharing tips on how to conceptualize a film.
For an outsider like me, the experience is never short-changed. I was able to see Teng Mangansakan’s Topografia for the first time and revisited gems like Mervine Aquino’s Palengke Day (which tackles the plight of stall owners in Baguio City Market) and Maria Kydylee Torato’s Si Oddie. As if the above mentioned line-up is not overwhelming enough, they even had a screening of films at the backyard of the haunted Diplomat Hotel at night. In between festival events and if it’s worth mentioning, I was also able to visit the Strawberry Farm in the nearby town of La Trinidad and harvested about a dozen of fresh produce.”
6 – Summer Metro Manila Film Festival (12 points)
Jun Mendoza, SFFR: “Another avenue to showcase Filipino films exclusively in our local theaters. We appreciated that the lineup for the filmfest was diverse and provided us with key movies this year, such as About Us Not About Us and Here Comes the Groom.”
7 – Sine Kabataan (6 points)
James Espinoza, SFFR: “True to its name, Sine Kabataan is a budding festival catered to the youth — not only young filmmakers, whose projects are developed in a film lab, but also the young audience, who get to see the films for free.”
8 – UP Film Institute Thesis Defense (6 points)
Vinson Gabato, SFFR: “As always, entries are brimming with potential. While the shorts are not perfect, the overall craftmanship is still impressive and festival-ready. Expect some to participate in major festivals.”
9 – Active Vista Human Rights Festival (4 points)
Skilty Labastilla, SFFR: “Held in a span of more than a fortnight (September 21 to October 7), featuring a series of film screenings, fora, performances, and exhibits in key cities in Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, Active Vista Human Rights Festival shows how film festivals can think out of the box and incorporate other activities to comment on social realities and involve the wider society beyond film circles. With the theme Rebelasyon: Breaking the Spell of Deception, AVHRF showcased lauded international films (e.g., Argentina, 1985; Delikado), and local features (11,103; Kun Maupay Man It Panahon; Maria; Alimuom; among others) alongside socially significant local and international shorts in the past year or two, and organized well-attended fora (on climate emergency, comics, etc.), film talkbacks, art exhibits, and storytelling workshops.”
10 – Sinepiyu XV (3 points)
Lé Baltar, SFFR: “Sinepiyu continues to be this exciting effort committed to platforming and nurturing emerging artists, whose fresh new images propel local cinema forward. With proper funding and programming, it can be so much bigger than what it already is.”
11 – Mindanao Film Festival (2 points)
Princess Kinoc, SFFR: “To emphasize the need to avoid simplistic generalization of how we interpret the regions, it is important to know more about their stories through proper representation. As a fellow Mindanaoan film enthusiast, I am glad that one of the longest and largest film festivals our country boasts is the Mindanao Film Festival. Spanning over 21 years, there is no greater time than today to recognize the accomplishments the festival has borne for our film industry as it continues to bring the spotlight: to unsung stories that are more about the conflict and more about the people of Mindanao.”