The 16th edition of the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival (a.k.a. Cinemalaya) has been postponed due to Covid-19.
The news was first shared on a Facebook post by Jose Javier Reyes, part of the Cinemalaya Executive Committee.
The 16th edition of Cinemalaya Film Festival was slated on August 7 to 16, 2020.
In a statement, the executive committee stated that this move was needed because of the quarantine period that could affect the production of the films in competition.
The statement added that “we also anticipate the modified ways ‘live’ audience engagement that might need to be adopted after the quarantine period.”
Reyes explained that “the festival will continue without public exhibitions and will feature certain online content originally meant as part of this year’s celebration.”
This is part of the festival programmers’ attempt to look for “alternative ways of delivering the content to the public using online technologies.”
Established in 2005, Cinemalaya is an all-digital film festival and competition that aims to “discover, encourage and honor cinematic works of Filipino filmmakers. Considered the country’s biggest indie film festival, it has supported and promoted the production of 156 full feature independent films and 138 short films; many of these films have won awards in local and international competitions and festivals.
Earlier, in 2019, the 10 finalists for this year’s supposed festival are: “Ang Halimaw” by Emmanuel Q. Palo; “Angkas” by Rainerio Yamson II; “Bakit di mo Sabihin” (Tell Her) by Real Florido; “Bula sa Langit” by Sheenly Gener; “Dalagita sa Likod ng Pawikan” by Paul Sta. Ana; “Kargo” by TM Malones; KATHOEY by Joris Fernandez, Paolo Valconcha; “Parole” by Briliant Juan; “Rhino Girl” by Jav Velasco; and “Seperate/Separate” by David Corpuz.
