7th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival opens

The 7th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival and Competition has opened on July 15 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). The festival premiered the film “Mask” by a renowned Director, Laurice Guillen. Cinemalaya runs from July 15 to 24 at the CCP, and from July 16 to 24 at Greenbelt, Makati.

Cinemalaya is an all-digital film festival that aims to "discover, encourage and honor cinematic works of Filipino filmmakers that articulate and freely interpret the Filipino experience with fresh insight and artistic integrity." This year’s festival theme, “See the Unseen,” boldly portrays different stories of "passion, memory, truth, despair, obsession, terror and splendor."

Cinemalaya features 181 independent films on exhibition, and 51 films are in competition for different award categories. One of the highlights of the festival is a tribute to National Artist Fernando Poe Jr, a retrospective of 9 films he directed/written.

The Cinemalaya Awards Night will be held on July 24 at CCP. The two main competition categories are the new breed full-length feature category, and the short feature category featuring works by new directors.