Sinag Maynila merges mainstream, regional and indie cinema
THE EIGHTH SINAG MAYNILA INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL HAS COMMENCED. It serves as an annual event and a creative platform for feature and short filmmakers, along with their collaborators, to share their unique cinematic storytelling perspectives.
The 2026 edition screens six full-length films and a significant number of shorts.
“Every year, iba-ibang pelikula, iba-ibang storytellers (it features a variety of films and storytellers),” said Brillante Mendoza, the Cannes-winning filmmaker and Sinag Maynila festival director, in a recent presscon.
“Siyempre, every year gusto natin talagang mapanood ng mga manonood yung mga napiling magagandang pelikula (of course, we want the moviegoers to go to cinemas and watch the chosen, well-crafted movies),” added he.
“For this year (and) like every year, gusto rin naming i-involve yung mga regional films, meron pa rin naman hanggang ngayon (we also want to involve movies from the regions, and we have that, too, until now). Kung makikita natin, may halong mainstream yung ibang pelikula at yung iba totally independent (as you’ll notice, there’s a mix of mainstream and independent films).
“Yun yung gusto nating mangyari sa Sinag Maynila, na hindi siya totally pang-independent lang. Mini-merge natin yung dalawa para mas maging accessible siya sa mga manonood (that’s what we want Sinag Maynila to be. It is not totally for indies but merges mainstream and regional with that to make them accessible to the public).”
“All About Her,” directed by Joel Lamangan, “Ang Bangkay” of Vincent Tañada, “Desperada by Louie Ignacio, “Lanaya” of Clyde Capistrano, “Pinikas” by Cris Fuego and “Sweet Escape” of Rommel Ricafort, comprise the full-length category.
“Sinasalamin nito kung ano ba ang nasa loob ng isang beauty contest (it mirrors what’s going on in a pageant),” said direk Joel of the crime drama during the media call, “kung saan nagtatagisan ng kagandahan ang mga kalahok (where beauty candidates compete), ano ba ang nangyayari, paano ba nananalo, sino ba ang nananalo (it touches on how to win a title and who is being crowned).”
From the nitty-gritty of the pageantry, Louie’s drama brings viewers to that personal and private world of a suffering young woman, who begins the road to healing and recovery in a shelter.
“All I can say about the film ‘Desperada’ is that it’s a brave movie,” shared the director, who shows the needs of individuals with mental health problems and ways to address them in the film.
“So, each character is a bit interesting, and every actor plays a character with a different case,” added he. “That’s why it’s a bit intriguing and bold.”
Direk Vince Tañada, on the other hand, takes on the psychological and drama genre in “Ang Bangkay.”
A piece of information shares that “a house (is) shrouded by grief from the death of the matriarch. The embalmer widower coexists with living persons with hidden motives and corpses with secrets to tell.”
“(Ito ay) tungkol sa isang pamilya (the story is about a family),” said he. “This is not only about darkness, it’s also about appreciating the life that we have.”
Also belonging to the drama with a touch of romance is “Sweet Escape,” directed and written by Rommel Ricafort and Shine Ricafort, respectively.
They conceptualized the story before the pandemic and tried to connect the chocolate with the famous tourist spot Chocolate Hills of Bohol. The latter also has cacao plantations and a promising related industry. That became an inspiration for the movie with the cross-cultural element.
“Sweet Escape” follows a Pinay medical professional who “enters a secret surrogacy arrangement in Bohol and forms an unexpected bond with Dave, a Korean entrepreneur,” according to the festival’s publicity team.
Another crime drama in the lineup is “Lanaya” by direk Clyde.
“Inspiration-wise, my main (primary) intention was to entertain,” said he. “That’s why people watch movies is to be entertained. Secondary is obviously the intention of (presenting) crime-drama. That’s something I might watch personally. So, I applied a lot of things I’ve watched in my life that kind of interest me with the tropes and the type of character developments that we tackled in the movie.”
In it, a nursing student is tapped to spy on a woman of stature to find the latter’s connections to the demise and destiny of her political figure husband.
A breather from this genre is the comedy, drama and romance “Pinikas,” directed by Cris Fuego. Available information shares that it’s about “a teen breadwinner from a Philippine fishing village (who) finds hope in Internet cafés while torn between a local love and her father’s foreigner dream.”
As for the choice of genre, producer Amaya Han said, “I think comedy has always been universal,” and when it had block screenings abroad, most viewers enjoyed the film. The subtitles somehow didn’t matter because one can connect to “the universality of the theme of the film and the comedy aspect of the film as well.”
Aside from the feature films, moviegoers can also watch the short films.
According to direk Brillante, the eighth Sinag Maynila saw the most number of shorts from students, more than 300 entries.
“Despite what’s happening in our film industry, when we see that many short filmmakers and students taking an interest in making films, somehow it gives us hope… because they are our future directors and filmmakers,” he said.
With that, please support the local filmmaking industry and watch the entries for this year’s Sinag Maynila filmfest.
It runs until March 29 at the Gateway Cineplex in Cubao, Quezon City as its official venue partner. Other official cinema partners are Eastwood Cinemas, Uptown Cinemas, Venice Cineplex and Lucky Chinatown Cinemas.
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