Filipinos who missed this year’s Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival still have the chance to watch the winners through ABS-CBN’s streaming platform.
People can purchase festival passes on iWantTFC‘s website or mobile app until November 14 where they can watch this year’s winners and 80 more films and documentaries.
For the 16th run of the country’s largest independent film festival, “Tokwifi” by Carla Pulido Ocampo was named the “Best Film” and the recipient of the NETPAC Jury Prize.
It tells the story of a 1950s mestiza star trapped in a television set who dreams of having a romantic romp with a Bontok Igorot man who does not know how to kiss.
The “Audience’s Choice” award goes to “Quing Lalam Ning Aldo (Under the Sun)” by Reeden Fajardo which tells the story of a transgender sampaguita farmer who renovates their neglected kitchen for the arrival of their son.
Meanwhile, “Pabasa Kan Pasyon (Chanting the Passion)” by Hubert Tibi won the “Best Screenplay.” It highlights religion and economy amid a backdrop of a Bicolono family during Lenten Season where a mother was pushed to make a living off her faith.
Martika Ramirez Escobar’s “Living Things” won the award for “Best Direction,” which tells the story of a woman who finds out that her decades-old lover has turned into a cardboard standee of himself.
“Ang Pagpakalma sa Unos (To Calm the Pig Inside)” by Joanna Vasquez Arong won the Special Jury Prize. It shows how a girl recounts the aftermath of a typhoon in a seaside city and how people cope with the devastation and trauma.
This year’s Cinemalaya only featured shorts in the main competition as an effect of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The eight full-length films that were supposed to join this year’s lineup will be featured in the 2021 edition to be streamed through Vimeo, along with 10 other finalists.
Film festivals have gone digital due to the threat of the coronavirus where mass gatherings in enclosed spaces are discouraged for health and safety reasons.
Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino, the film festival arranged by the Film Development Council of the Philippines in celebration of the Buwan ng Wika, will also be online this year.
Among the films that will be featured is the digitally restored version of “Markova: Comfort Gay,” an award-winning film by the late Gil Portes.