Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival

Cinemalaya
LocationPasay, Philippines
Founded2005
Most recentCinemalaya 2023
Hosted byCinemalaya Foundation Inc.
LanguageEnglish, Filipino, and other Philippine languages
Websitewww.cinemalaya.org

The Cinemalaya, officially the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, is a film festival in the Philippines held annually during the month of August, traditionally at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex, but in recent years[timeframe?] the Festival screenings also extend to various cinemas. Its aim is the development and promotion of Filipino independent films.[1] The film festival is organized by the Cinemalaya Foundation, Inc. with the support of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Econolink Investments, Inc.

Each year, the festival provides "seed investments" to the independent filmmakers who become the finalists of the festival's full-length category. In the beginning, the seed grant amounted to ₱500,000 (US$10,000~) per film. In 2019, it was increased to ₱1,000,000 (US$20,000~). In 2023, the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) matched this amount, bringing the total to ₱2,000,000 (US$40,000~). The finalists of the short film category received a total of ₱100,000 (US$1,785~) each[clarification needed] for their finished films. These finalists are chosen from hundreds of submissions from all over the Philippines. Their films debut at the festival along with various out-of-competition works.[2]

The organizing committee, headed by veteran Filipino director and actress Laurice Guillen, oversees the production of the films and the festival.[3]

In 2023, the festival was held from August 4 to August 13, at the Philippine International Convention Center and in select mall cinemas.[4]

  1. ^ "Inq7.net:Global Nation". Archived from the original on October 13, 2005.
  2. ^ "Cinemalaya 19 gives biggest seed grant in its history". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  3. ^ "PEP EXCLUSIVE: Robbie Tan explains why MNL 143 was disqualified from Cinemalaya 2012". Pep.ph. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  4. ^ "Philippines Independent Film Festival Cinemalaya 2023 Returns To Manila". Music Press Asia. Retrieved August 10, 2023.