The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, or simply Cinemalaya, has been a fixture of the Philippine film industry. It has enlightened audiences from all walks of life on the Filipino experience. It has also been the primary avenue for Filipino storytellers to tell stories they otherwise wouldn’t be able to tell.

Having established and sustained this reputation for two decades, Cinemalaya champions films evoking ‘Reel Reflections’ for its 22nd iteration. This theme, which equates cinema with a mirror, is an apt description of every entry’s intent in this year’s Cinemalaya: to raise awareness of the Filipino’s plights and pains.

SHORTS A

Para-Paraan

Mae Chan Li’s observational documentary ‘Para-Paraan’ sees its subject, medical doctor/para powerlifter Katrina Hernandez, in something often rendered invisible: the ways communities are built without persons with disabilities (PWDs) in mind. Rather than treating accessibility as an abstract policy issue, the film simply follows Hernandez, a wheelchair user, in her day-to-day life. In doing so, Li mines meaning from what it means to actually move through spaces that were never designed to accommodate everyone. The result is an enlightening eye-opener. 

Runo!

• A gorgeous piece of 2D animation, ‘Runo!’ by Lysa Catolico and Jazmine Pateña gives its bleak world a striking visual beauty. What makes this film particularly effective is the contrast between that. By situating a tender relationship between a dog and her human owner in a dangerous world, Catolico and Pateña make a film whose dystopian setting feels comforting rather than terrifying. It is visually sumptuous without losing sight of the emotions at its center.

Honey, My Love, So Sweet

• There is something simply beautiful about ‘Honey, My Love, So Sweet’ by JT Trinidad. In connecting performance with the personal process of discovering one’s humanity, what makes the film so moving is its calmness. The cinema fosters exploration and development, but the cinema is where one can also just be. It is a quiet film, but no doubt affecting. 

Silkscreen

• A meditative rumination, director Rey Anthony Villaverde recognizes the inherent melancholia in the passage of time. ‘Silkscreen’ is not just resonant for how it deals with the gradual, but also for how it compels audiences to preserve memory.

Hoy, Hoy, Ingat!

• ‘Hoy, Hoy, Ingat!’ by Norvin de los Santos is a breath of fresh air. Precisely because it refuses to reduce one’s plights to misery alone. The film’s greatest strength is its ability to find wonder without denying nor refuting hardship. Its characters are wholly and fully humans capable of imagination and finding joy. 

SHORTS B

The Keeper

• Communicating almost entirely through movement and atmosphere, ‘The Keeper’ by Nolan Rae Fabular and TRNZ makes that language remarkably effective. Beneath its wordless surface is a meditation on the never-ending pursuit of perfection. The exhausting cycle of preservation and maintenance. Rather than explaining its ideas, the animated allows its gorgeous images to accumulate meaning.

Sorbetes

• ‘Sorbetes’ is an evocative work by Jennessie Gilbuena, one that understands how to create a mood and sustain a particular emotional atmosphere. There is a strong feeling running through the film, but its atmosphere ultimately feels more developed than the people inhabiting it. Its emotions are palpable, yet the film offers little interiority to illuminate where those feelings come from or what they mean. Ultimately it is felt quite strongly, though it is harder to connect with on a deeper level.

kung paano kakalas.

• There is something immediately fascinating about ‘kung paano kakalas.,’ a slice-of-life documentary by Joseph Vitali centered on a man whose personality and circumstances are compelling enough to carry the film. However, much of its appeal depends on how much the viewer already knows about the ‘Chris Brown’ of Fusion Alley. The film seems to assume a familiarity with its subject that not every audience member will necessarily have. Vitali features his subject by showing their day-to-day routine, their character, and their faith, which includes a belief that God will eventually lift oneself up. There is a richer portrait of its subject somewhere within the material, although this film only occasionally reaches it.

Elenita, Elena, Elaine

• ‘Elenita, Elena, Elaine’ announces itself through atmosphere. Its alluring lights, sequins, and saturated yellows and pinks give Gabriela Serrano’s film an emphasized visual identity, and indeed every frame is very dreamlike and evocative. There is a sense of glamour and theatricality to its imagery, with color and light doing much of the emotional work. It has a distinct personality, which turns its atmosphere into something almost tangible. Even when the film leaves certain things open-ended, the imagery lingers.

The River Flows in Different Places

• ‘The River Flows in Different Places’ understands the power of simply allowing people to speak. There is something deeply affecting about the way it presents the experiences of Filipino-Palestinians who lived and experienced the atrocious acts of Israel. Its restraint becomes its strength, allowing the people onscreen to speak for themselves rather than turning their suffering into spectacle.

Further information

Cinemalaya 22: Reel Reflections ran from August 6 to 18, 2026. Organized by the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the film festival was screened at Shangri-La Plaza, Gateway Cineplex, and Ayala Malls Cinemas. 

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