'More mature, more daring' films at this year's Cinemalaya

In a separate interview, Laurice Guillen, 2013 Cinemalaya competition chairperson, said the 25 films vying for awards in the categories of “New Breed,” “Directors Showcase,” and “Short Feature” have set “a higher bar,” noting that almost all the competing films are of “high quality in terms of technical aspects and more confident in story-telling.”

“Not only this, the subjects and themes of films in competition this year are more challenging and more daring. Most of them challenge artistic freedom. There is more maturity in the tackling of sex. But there are also lots of great roles for children,” said Guillen.

“The very noticeable great improvements and excellence in terms of the quality of almost all the films competing this year are so different from the previous Cinemalaya editions, where several films stood out from the rest,” added Cinemalaya Foundation president Nestor Jardin.

Clodualdo del Mundo, Jr., award-winning screenwriter, director, and author and 2013 Cinemalaya Forum director, said the yearly Cinemalaya film festival and competition “hopefully builds a new audience for the new Philippine cinema where indie film-makers will find more outlets in commercial theaters.”

“The mainstream audience, maybe, lacks exposure to other types of films. They are not exposed to films other than those offered by the commercial theaters. Their tastes became accustomed to what is shown in big commercial theaters,” Del Mundo said in an interview.

The Cinemalaya Forum is one of the events occurring alongside the film competition and exhibition where issues and concerns affecting indie films are discussed and dissected.

The complete list of the 2013 Cinemalaya finalists by category is as follows:


1.       “Babagwa” (The Spider’s Lair) by Jason Paul Laxamana

2.       “David F” by Emmanuel Palo

3.       “Debosyon” by Alvin Yapan

4.       “Instant Mommy” by Leo Abaya

5.       “Nuwebe” by Joseph Israel Laban

6.       “Purok 7” by Carlo Obispo

7.       “Quick Change” by Eduardo Roy, Jr.

8.       “Rekorder” by Mikhail Red

9.       “The Diplomat Hotel” by Christopher Ad. Castillo

10.     “Transit” by Hannah Espia

“Directors Showcase” category:

1.       “Amor y Muerte” by Ces Evangelista

2.       “Ekstra” by Jeffrey Jeturian

3.       “Sana Dati” by Jerrold Tarog

4.       “The Liars” byy Gil Portes

5.       “Porno” by Adolfo Alix, Jr.


1.       “Bakaw” by Ron Segismundo

2.       “Katapusang Labok” (Last Strike) by Aiess Athina Alonso

3.       “Missing” by Zig Dulay

4.       “Onang” by Je Tiglao

5.       “Para kay Ama” by Relyn Tan

6.       “Pukpok” by Joaquin Pantaleon, Stephan Domingo, and Immanuel Canicosa

7.       “Sa Wakas” by Nica Santiago

8.       “Taya” by Adi Bontuyan

9.       “The Houseband’s Wife” by Paolo O’Hara

10.     “Tutob” by Kissza Mari Campano

Big-name actors and actresses of the mainstream film industry appear in various films in competition, notably Vilma Santos in Jeturian’s “Ekstra”, Eugene Domingo in Abaya’s “Instant Mommy,” Gretchen Barretto in Castillo’s “The Diplomat Hotel,” and Alessandra de Rossi in Portes’ “The Liars.”

Character actress Anita Linda is in Laban’s “Nuwebe” and Palo’s “David F,” which also stars Jake Cuenca, while Lovi Poe appears in Jerrold Tarog’s “Sana Dati,” together with Paulo Avelino, who also acts in Yapan’s “Debosyon”.

Notable in this year’s edition of Cinemalaya is the participation of second-generation directors such as Castillo, son of the late Celso Ad. Castillo; Mikhail Red, son of Raymond Red; and Paolo O’Hara, nephew of the late Mario O’Hara.