Cinemalaya 2025 is almost here! The country’s biggest indie film festival just revealed its 10 full-length entries for this year.

Here’s the line-up and their short synopses:

1. “Bloom Where You Are Planted” by Nonilon Abao
   – A documentary on three land rights activists in Cagayan Valley, struggling to hold on to their idea of “home” amid red-tagging and terror.
2. “Child No. 82” by Tim Rone
   – A high school boy claims to be the 82nd child of the country’s biggest action-fantasy star. During the actor’s wake, the boy embarks on a journey to see his late father one last time.
3. “Cinemartyrs” by Sari Dalena
   – A young filmmaker (Nour Hooshmand) shoots at a historical massacre site, recreating forgotten tragedies where thousands of Filipinos were slaughtered.
4. “Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan” by Dustin Celestino
   – Four Filipinos — a political strategist, professor, speechwriter, and lawyer — wrestle with the erasure of memory and truth in a society drowning in disinformation.
5. “Padamlágan” (Night Light) by Jenn Romano
   – Set in 1972 during the Colgante Bridge collapse in Naga City, five days before Martial Law. OPM icon Ely Buendia (in his first lead role) plays a father searching for his missing son.
6. “Paglilitis” by Cheska Marfori and Raymund Barcelon
   – A former assistant, convinced by a brave lawyer, files a sexual harassment case against her wealthy and respected boss.
7. “Open Endings” by Nigel Santos and Keavy Vicente
   – Four queer women in their 30s, once lovers and now best friends (played by Janella Salvador, Klea Pineda, Leanne Mamonong, and Jasmine Curtis-Smith), navigate love, friendship, and chosen families.
8. “Republika ng Pipolipinas” by Renei Dimla
   – A disillusioned farmer renounces her Filipino citizenship after the government threatens to evict her from her land.
9. “Raging” by Ryan Machado
   – In 1990s Sibuyan, Romblon, a teenager named Eli seeks justice after being raped by a peer. His story becomes entangled with a mysterious plane crash and a sinister conspiracy.
10. “Warla” by Kevin Alambra
    – Inspired by true events, this tells the story of a young trans woman who finds family in a group of sisters. Together, they kidnap foreign men to fund their gender-affirming surgeries.

The 10 films will be screened from October 3 to 12, 2025 at the Red Carpet Cinemas, Shangri-La Plaza, Mandaluyong City.

📷: Bloom Where You Are Planted; Outplay Media Production; Cinemartyrs; SINE METU; Jermaine Tulbo; Paglilitis; Open Endings (Cinemalaya 2025); Pelikula Indiopendent; Cinemalaya; Southern Lantern Studios

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