Cinemalaya
Film festival in the Philippines
title: "Cinemalaya" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["film-festivals-in-the-philippines", "festivals-in-metro-manila", "cinemalaya-independent-film-festival", "short-film-festivals-in-asia", "2005-establishments-in-the-philippines"] description: "Film festival in the Philippines" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinemalaya" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Film festival in the Philippines ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox film festival"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival |
| current_awards | 2025 Cinemalaya |
| image | File:Cinemalaya_logo.png |
| number | 10 feature films |
| location | Metro Manila, Philippines |
| founded | 2005 |
| host | Cinemalaya Foundation Inc. |
| language | English, Filipino, and other Philippine languages |
| website | |
| last | 2025 Cinemalaya |
| :: |
| name = Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival | current_awards = 2025 Cinemalaya | image = File:Cinemalaya_logo.png | number = 10 feature films | location = Metro Manila, Philippines | founded = 2005 | host = Cinemalaya Foundation Inc. | language = English, Filipino, and other Philippine languages | website = |last=2025 Cinemalaya}}
The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, more commonly known as Cinemalaya, is a film festival in the Philippines held annually traditionally at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex as well as well as other select cinemas since 2011.
Established in 2005, Cinemalaya's aim is the development and promotion of Filipino independent films. The film festival is organized by the Cinemalaya Foundation, Inc. with the support of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Econolink Investments, Inc.
The organizing committee, headed by veteran Filipino director and actress Laurice Guillen, oversees the production of the films and the festival.
History
The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival is a film competition and festival that supports Filipino filmmakers. Cinemalaya's first edition was held in 2005 with the main competition meant for filmmakers who have made less than three commercial feature films. It also began with a short film competition. The organization of Cinemalaya was first proposed as early as 2004. The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) is among the original main proponents of Cinemalaya.
The Cinemalaya's traditional main venue has been the CCP Complex in Pasay.
In 2010, the festival was opened to veteran filmmakers under the Directors Showcase competition with the main competition branded as the New Breed category. The Directors Showcase lasted until the 2014 edition.
Entrant films began concurrently screening in select Ayala Malls cinemas starting the 2011 edition.
From its inception in 2005 until the 2013 edition, Cinemalaya was held annually in July. The schedule was moved to August in 2014 to avoid competition from "big Hollywood films".
Only short films was featured in the 2015 edition. The main competition was revived in the 2016 edition with the short film competition being the only other category.
Cinemalaya was held virtually for the first time in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was held online again in the next year. Both editions focused on short films. The film festival returned to on-site screenings in the 2022 edition.
From the 2023 edition due to the due to renovation work of the CCP complex, the main venue of the Cinemalaya has been moved elsewhere within Metro Manila. It is projected that Cinemalaya will only be able to return to the CCP Complex in 2028 at earliest.
By 2025, Cinemalaya faced financial difficulties with the 2025 edition "streamlined" due to reduced funding from the CCP which is still renovating its complex. The schedule was also shifted to October from August. Fortunately, The 21st Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival took place in October 2025 in Metro Manila, showcasing Filipino independent films. The festival was shifted from August to October and streamlined due to funding changes, with events held at Shangri-La Plaza in Mandaluyong.
Ceremonies
::data[format=table title=""]
| Festival | Year | Awards Show | Ref. | Venue | City |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2005 | Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex | Pasay | ||
| 2nd | 2006 | ||||
| 3rd | 2007 | ||||
| 4th | 2008 | ||||
| 5th | 2009 | ||||
| 6th | 2010 | ||||
| 7th | 2011 | ||||
| 8th | 2012 | ||||
| 9th | 2013 | ||||
| 10th | 2014 | ||||
| 11th | 2015 | ||||
| 12th | 2016 | ||||
| 13th | 2017 | ||||
| 14th | 2018 | ||||
| 15th | 2019 | ||||
| 16th | 2020 | Online | |||
| 17th | 2021 | ||||
| 18th | 2022 | Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex | Pasay | ||
| 19th | 2023 | Philippine International Convention Center | |||
| 20th | 2024 | Shangri-La Plaza | Mandaluyong | ||
| 21st | 2025 | ||||
| :: |
Funding
Each director receives a seed grant to produce their feature films. In the early years, each received a grant of . In the 2023 edition, filmmakers received a record high grant of each.
Competitions
- Main competition – known as the New Breed category from 2010 to 2014 is the primary competition for Cinemalaya for new Filipino filmmakers
- Director's Showcase – Held from 2010 to 2014, the competition was open to veteran filmmakers
- Short film competition – category for short film submissions. The 2015, 2020, and 2021 editions solely held the short film competitions.
References
References
- "PEP EXCLUSIVE: Robbie Tan explains why MNL 143 was disqualified from Cinemalaya 2012".
- (18 July 2008). "Cinemalaya top full-length films". Philippine Entertainment Portal, Inc..
- (2017). "Contesting a National cinema in becoming the Cinemalaya Philippine independent film festival (2005-2014)". Humanities Diliman.
- Salterio, Leah. "Cinemalaya: Discover, honor, encourage new filmmakers". INQ7.net.
- (29 July 2014). "Cinemalaya may soon become a nationwide fest". The Philippine Star.
- (25 January 2014). "Cinemalaya 'loses' Cojuangco". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
- (August 8, 2023). "Philippines Independent Film Festival Cinemalaya 2023 Returns To Manila".
- (9 August 2015). "Cinemalaya goes back to basics". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
- (9 August 2024). "Cinemalaya and Ayala Malls cinema making dreams come true". Malaya Business Insight.
- "CINEMALAYA 2015 WINNERS AND CINEMALAYA 2016 FINALISTS NAMED".
- (6 July 2020). "Cinemalaya 2020 goes digital due to COVID-19 pandemic, announces short film finalists". The Philippine Star.
- (15 July 2021). "Cinemalaya goes digital again in 2nd pandemic year". BusinessWorld.
- (7 July 2022). "The long wait is over: Cinemalaya 2022 returns to on-site screenings". Rappler.
- (31 July 2024). "List: Cinemalaya 2024 feature films, gala screening times". The Philippine Star.
- (2 July 2025). "Cinemalaya 2025 heading to Shang, says Laurice Guillen". The Philippine Star.
- (4 September 2025). "Why Cinemalaya 2025 will be its most 'streamlined' edition yet". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
- (5 September 2025). "Cinemalaya 2025, wala pang opening at closing films". Philippine Entertainment Portal, Inc..
- Santiago, Terrence. (2025-09-16). "Cinemalaya sails to bigger and better shores with new venue partners this October".
- "Cinemalaya top full-length films".
- Gorecho, Dennis. (2022-08-02). "Cinemalaya through the years".
- "Cinemalaya honors Kidlat Tahimik".
- (2014-08-11). "Nora Aunor, Eula Valdez, Dante Rivero and Robert Arevalo win in Cinemalaya 2014".
- Cruz, Marinel R.. (2015-08-17). "‘Pusong Bato’ leads Cinemalaya winners".
- Villano, Alexa. (2016-08-14). "FULL LIST: Winners, Cinemalaya 2016 awards night".
- (August 14, 2017). "'Respeto' bags Cinemalaya 2017 Best Film award". [[CNN Philippines]].
- Villano, Alexa. (2018-08-12). "FULL LIST: Winners, Cinemalaya 2018".
- Villano, Alexa. (2019-08-11). "FULL LIST: Winners, Cinemalaya 2019".
- (2020-08-12). "FULL LIST: Winners of Cinemalaya Awards 2020".
- Jairus, Matias. (2021-08-19). "Beauty Queen named Best Film in Cinemalaya 2021".
- Pagulong, Charmie Joy. "Cinemalaya 2022: Winners, highlights and more at closing ceremony".
- Abad, Ysa. (2023-08-14). "FULL LIST: Winners, Cinemalaya 2023".
- "FULL LIST: The winners of Cinemalaya 20 main competition".
- Reyes, Juno. (2025-10-12). "FULL LIST: Winners, Cinemalaya 2025".
- "Cinemalaya 19 gives biggest seed grant in its history".
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