In its 12th year, the festival is giving Filipino cineastes their first look at acclaimed international and Filipino films.
Opening today, Nov. 8, QCinema features internationally acclaimed films Anora and The Room Next Door, set to dominate awards seasons next year. The former is a scrappy sex worker romance; latter is a suicide drama that marks iconic Mexican filmmaker Pedro Almodovar’s full-length English-language film debut.
Both are high on industry pundits’ lists of the best films of 2024 (Anora and Room are this year’s Best Picture winners in Cannes and Venice, respectively) and are widely predicted to bag multiple Oscar nominations including Best Actress next year.
In previous years, QCinema brought the 2022 Cannes Palme d’Or winner and 2023 Oscar Best Picture nominee Triangle of Sadness, and last year’s Poor Things, which nabbed for Emma Stone her second Oscar Best Actress trophy at this year’s Academy Awards.
Often drowned by these high-profile movies are the Filipino films in the slate. That’s a pity because, aside from Cinemalaya, QCinema has been a very strong champion of Filipino cinema, and not just full-length features but also, and perhaps more importantly, short films. In fact, it provides funding grants amounting to hundreds of thousands of pesos for the production of shorts that often push the boundaries of the form and the art of filmmaking in the country.
Here’s a guide to this year’s Filipino titles, both shorts and full-length. It includes not just one but two films starring superstar John Lloyd Cruz.
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WATER SPORTS
Director: Whammy Alcazaren
Jelson and Ipe, students deep in love, undergo trials as they prepare themselves to survive a world devastated by climate change. Though life may be harsh, they believe what their teacher says that a strong heart and mind can triumph. But they soon learn that maybe the best way to survive the end of the world is to simply just live, laugh, and love.
KINAKAUSAP NI CELSO ANG DIYOS
Director: Gilb Baldoza
Celso, a factory worker, accidentally injures his hand on the job and receives compensation from his insurance. When he returns to work and gets hurt again, his employers become suspicious. As he faces pressure to secure his job, Celso uncovers a shocking clause in his insurance: a substantial payout to his family in case of his death.
RAMPAGE! (O Ang Parada)
Director: Kukay Bautista Zinampan
On the first of May, three queer friends band together to plan a heist. Their sister is murdered, and subsequently taxidermied to look like a saint. The body is paraded around in a procession held by the authorities. The three go up against a surveillance state to retrieve the dignity of their fallen sister.
SUPERMASSIVE HEAVENLY BODY
Director: Sam Villa-Real
A 10-year-old girl has a problem: there is a black hole in the middle of her torso. Due to this, she has been avoiding class picture day for the past three years, but this year, her mother won’t allow it. And so, she begins a workout regimen to try and deal with the hole inside her.
ALAGA
Director: Nicole Rosacay
Gloria, a middle-aged seamstress, and her son Bayani live in the House, a structure in constant decay. As Bayani’s birthday approaches, mother, son, and the House are forced to confront their innermost desires.
REFRAIN
Director: Joseph Dominic Cruz
A single-minded pianist in her 30s struggles with a debt dating twenty years back from the time when she was still young and learning how to play. Isolated and emotionally muted, she lives her waking life searching for the answers to her dilemma one step at a time.
ROOM IN THE CROWD
Director: John Torres
Filmmaker John Torres stitches together disparate footage taken during lockdown—among the video submissions from his students, Zoom recordings with his daughter, dashcam video from an ambushed journalist, and commercial stock footage—assembling them into a diaristic collage that serves as a personal documentary of an artist’s journey into a new phase of life.
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KAY BASTA ANGKRABO YAY BAGAY IBAT HA LANGIT
Director: Maria Estela Paiso
A young girl turns into a fish and recounts the struggles of the fisherfolk in her hometown, Zambales.
RIZAL’S MAKAMISA: PANTASMA NG HIGANTI
Director: Khavn
Inspired by Jose Rizal’s third, unfinished novel, discovered in 1987, a Spanish priest and a Filipino poet (John Lloyd Cruz) vie for the affections of an American woman who is going mad. Shot on expired film stock, which was then hand-painted and scratched by the director, Makamisa: Phantasm of Revenge is made to feel like an unearthed relic; some newly discovered silent film from an experimental filmmaker from a century past.
FORGETTING CLARA
Director: Nicole Matti
In a surreal visual journey, Forgetting Clara navigates the shadowy intersections of memory and identity, where fragmented images and silent echoes reveal the complexities of desire and the weight of unspoken truths.
MONEYSLAPPER
Director: Bor Ocampo
Daniel (John Lloyd Cruz) immediately leaves his life behind in Porac, Pampanga upon winning the biggest cash prize ever in the lotto. After five years of living a life of luxury and traveling around the world, he returns to his hometown to pay some debts, settle some old scores, and do right by some people, all the while not realizing what he has become, or what wealth has turned him into.
As further proof of QCinema’s support of Filipino cinema, it’s doing something this year it hasn’t done before: open the festival with a collection of shorts from Filipino filmmakers. Not just any collection, though: it’s an omnibus film featuring short films, each a collaboration between a Filipino director and another filmmaker from another Asian country. The festival describes it as a groundbreaking initiative created in collaboration with Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
WALAY BALAY
Directors: Eve Baswel (Philippines) and Gogularaajan Rajendran (Malaysia)
In the shadow of Marawi conflict, Norayda and her daughter Yahairah have found solace in a nearby town. They count each day to return home. Until an official letter arrives.
NIGHTBIRDS
Directors: Maria Estela Paiso (Philippines) and Ashok Vish (India)
Mythology crosses Ivy’s path when the mystical Tigmamanukan bird helps her break free from her husband who gambles the couple’s money in cockfighting.
SILIG
Directors: Arvin Belarmino (Philippines) and Lomorpich Rithy (Cambodia)
A stubborn and feisty Mamang is back in town after 20 years to organize her funeral. But she wants to be cremated against all odds.
COLD CUT
Directors: Don Eblahan (Philippines) and Tan Siyou (Singapore)
Joy, a 19-year-old student, is about to compete at the local talent show. As she’s about to enter the audition, a mysterious butcher takes her to unknown horizons.
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#QCinema2024 runs from November 8 to 17 at Gateway Cineplex 18, Ayala Malls Cinema at Trinoma, Robinson’s Movieworld at Robinsons Magnolia, Red Carpet at Shangri-La Plaza, Robinsons Magnolia, and Powerplant Mall. For more information, visit www.qcinema.ph.
