Filipino classics, auteur works join Oscar bets to highlight 14th QCinema lineup

October 23, 2026 | 1:19pm

MANILA, Philippines — The QCinema International Film Festival returns for its 14th edition next month with a lineup dedicated to genre filmmaking and auteur cinema under a "Genre’teurs" theme.

The lineup of QCinema 2026, which will run from November 13-22, was unveiled at a media conference last October 22 in a Quezon City restaurant.

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte was unable to attend the event in person but her prepared statement was read by District 1 councilor TJ Calalay.

Belmonte touted in her speech how QCinema is the longest-running film festival fully mounted by a local government unit and how Quezon City is just the second Southeast Asian city to be named a UNESCO Creative City for Film.

She vowed continued support for individuals in the creative sector as she lamented the upcoming closure of Cinema '76 along Tomas Morato.

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"Democratize cinema, it must reach every individual, student, and citizen, not just the film festival circuit," the mayor also said in her statement.

Opening this year's QCinema is the Mervin Malonzo's animated film "Ella Arcangel: Awit ng Pangil at Kuko" based on the comics by Julius Villanueva.

"Ella Arcangel" was a recipient of the P1.5-million QCinema Project Market Philippines Co-Production Grant in 2023. Bianca Umali voices the titular character of the film which will also compete in the festival's Asian Next Wave section.

The closing film as part of the QC Selects section will be Hirokazu Kore-eda's "Look Back", the live-action adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto's manga that won five special awards at last month's Venice International Film Festival.

Other exciting things to look out for are the new retrospective coffee book for the 14th QCinema and a screening of "Magic Kingdom: Ang Alamat ng Damortis" in Quezon Memorial Circle for QCinema at the Park.

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Lineup

Filipino productions will be marked by (PH) while co-productions of the Philippines will be marked with (Co-PH).

Asian Next Wave features new voices by filmmakers in the Asian continent:

• "9 Temples to Heaven" by Sompot Chidgasornpongse, Thailand's entry to the 2027 Academy Awards
• "A Girl Unknown" by Zou Jing, FIPRESCI Prize winner at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival Critics' Week
• "Hearing" by Lê B?o
• "Fujiko" by Taichi Kimura
• "Fruit Gathering" by Aung Phyoe, Crystal Globe Grand Prix winner at the 60th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
• "The Burning Giants" by Phuttiphong Aroonpheng
• "The World Before" by Yoon Da-bi
• (PH) "Ella Arcangel: Awit ng Pangil at Kuko" by Mervin Malonzo

New Horizons consist of only directorial debuts and sophomore outings by filmmakers pushing cinema's boundaries with fresh perspectives and distinctive storytelling:

• "Angh" by Theja Rio, Platform Prize winner at the Toronto International Film Festival
• "Baby Jackfruit, Baby Guava" by Nông Nh?t Quang
• "Beach Fictions" by Lim Ha-yeon, Special Mention receipient at the Busan International Film Festival New Currents section
• "Furies" by Rami Kodeih, Lebanon's entry to the 2027 Academy Awards
• "La Gradiva" by Marine Atlan, AMI Paris Grand Prize winner at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival Critics' Week
• "Sad Girlz" by Fernanda Tovar, Crystal Bear and International Jury Grand Prix winner at Berlin International Film Festival
• "The Color of the Sun" by Xavier Tera, FIPRESCI Prize winner at the Venice International Film Festival
• "We Are Aliens" by Kohei Kadowaki

RainbowQC explores stories from and about the queer community:

• "Big Little Things" by Michelle Zhou
• "Flesh and Fuel" by Pierre le Gall, Queer Palm Revelation prize winner at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival
• "I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming" by Isabelle Stever, Environmental Awareness Award winner at the 79th Locarno Film Festival
• "Jim Queen" by Marco Nguyen and Nicolas Athané, Silver Audience Award winner at the Fantasia International Film Festival
• "Little Trouble Girls" by Urška Djuki?, Slovenia's entry to the most recent Oscars
• "Lovers in the Blue Night" by Anuparna Roy, NETPAC Award winner at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival Orizzonti section
• "Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma" by Jane Schoenbrun, Queer Palm winner at the 79th Cannes Film Festival
• "The Riverbank" by Enock Carvalho and Matheus Farias, Special Jury Prize winner at the 2026 Locarno Film Festival

Before Midnight gathers action-packed dark comedy, supernatural horror, unsettling mysteries, and psychological thrillers:

• "Arrested Memory" by Sabu
• "Chronovisor" by Kevin Walker and Jack Auen
• "I Love Paris" by Nicky Murphy, Gold Audience Award for Best International Feature Film winner at the 30th Fantasia International Film Festival
• (Co-PH) "Moonglow" by Isabel Sandoval
• "The Unknown" by Arthur Harari

Dokyu Days presents true stories from global documentaries:

• (PH) "Bomba Bernal" by Khavn
• "I Deserve A Lover Whose Every Rise Sets Fiery Dooms Raging Across the Skies" by Mani Haghighi
• (Co-PH) "To The Moon and Back" by Elisa Gómez Alvarez
• "The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer" by Alessandra Sanguinetti
• "Union Town" by Barbara Kopple

Screen International will showcase award-winning and critically acclaimed films from around the world, many of them vying for Oscars contention:

• "A Long Winter" by Andrew Haigh
• "Fatherland" by Pawe? Pawlikowski, joint-Best Director winner at the 79th Cannes Film Festival and Poland's entry to the 2027 Academy Awards
• "Fjord" by Cristian Mungiu, Palme d'Or winner at the 79th Cannes Film Festival
• (PH) "Makikiraan Po (Let Us Through, Dear Ancestors)" by Lav Diaz, Brian Prize winner at the Venice Film Festival
• "Nowhere to Lay My Eyes" by Hong Sang-soo, three awards including Best Director at the 79th Locarno Film Festival
• "The Beloved" by Rodrigo Sorogoyen
• "The Diary of a Chambermaid" by Radu Jade
• "Vintage Violence" by Eugene Kotlyarenko

Rediscovery features digitally restored landmark films from cinema's rich history:

• "Amores Perros" by Alejandro González Iñárritu
• (PH) "Batang West Side" by Lav Diaz
• (PH) "Patay Na Si Hesus" by Victor Villanueva
• "Possession" by Andrzej ?u?awski
• "Perfect Blue" by Satoshi Kon
• A "Focus On: Pete Lacaba" portion honors the late screenwriter with
  • "Jaguar" by Lino Brocka
  • "Sister Stella L." by Mike de Leon

QC Selects highlights powerful stories, distinctive perspectives and exciting cinematic visions:

• (PH) "11" by Bebe Go
• "You Are The Film" by Makoto Ueda
• "Club Kid" by Jordan Firstman
• "Fucktoys" by Annapura Sriram
• (PH) "I Grew An Inch When My Father Died" by P.R. Monencillo Patindol
• "Ibuku" by Eddie Cahyono
• (Co-PH) "The Remotes" by John Torres
• "The Tigers" by Alberto Rodriguez, Jury Award for Best Cinematography at the San Sebastián International Film Festival
• "Look Back" by Hirokazu Kore-eda

QC Shorts International this year will be divided into four programs.

• At Night We Lead Different Lives for the double lives of humans in transactional relationships
  • (Co-PH) "And If Thuy Didn't Exist" by Carlo Francisco Manatad, Special Mention recipient at the Locarno Film Festival
  • (PH) "Body Works" by Maki Makilan
  • (Co-PH) "Is This Desire?" by Apa Agbayani
  • "She Said" by Ivan Tan
  • "Through the Cracks" by Le Hoang
• A Little Blasphemy Never Hurt Anyone for humans reckoning with faith, body, and desires through their interactions with animals and beasts
  • (Co-PH) "Bleat!" by Ananth Subramaniam, Queer Palm for Best Short Film at last year's Cannes' Critics Week
  • "Fruit" by Jen Nee Lim
  • (Co-PH) "Run Shirley Run!" by Rodiell Veloso
  • "The Bovine Comedy" by Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, Pardino d’oro for Best Auteur Short Film winner at the Locarno Film Festival
  • "The Dream Is a Snail " by Thiên Ân Nguy?n
• All Our Mothers Were Once Girls for the unlived lives of mothers through the eyes of the children around them
  • (PH) "Grandmothering" by Kylechandler Bigay, Asian premiere
  • (PH) "Maanaa Kanimo" by Toni Cañete
  • (PH) "Sana'y Nandito Ka" by Clister Santos
  • "The 4PLY Clandestine System" by Natalie Sin
• The Mountains Always Ask for More for the fraught relationship with nature and the histories it conceals and reveals
  • (PH) "Agsangit Laeng ti Al-alia (A Ghost Can Only Howl)" by Carla Pulido Ocampo
  • "Golden Island" by Arief Budiman
  • "Incident on the Mountain" by Savunthara Seng
  • "Obscura" byTimoteus Anggawan Kusno
  • (PH) "They Made Monsters" by Jaime Morados

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Disclosure: Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte is a shareholder of Philstar Global Corp., which operates Philstar.com. This article was produced independently in adherence to our editorial and ethical guidelines

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