Filipino movie 'Tigkiliwi' joins Portugal genre film festival

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January 14, 2026 | 10:31am

MANILA, Philippines — Tara Illenberger's "Tigkiliwi" scored another milestone for Filipino filmmaking with a prized spot in the Official Competitive Director's Week of the 46th Porto International Film Festival, better known as Fantasporto.

The movie — starring Ruby Ruiz, Gabby Padilla, Julian Paul Larroder, and Sunshine Teodoro — follows young siblings Lala and Marlin, orphaned and left to navigate the world alone, as they find unexpected refuge with an elderly woman rumored to be an aswang.

"Tigkiliwi" previously won the Jury Prize at the 2025 Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival, becoming the second CinePanalo-backed feature to reach Porto following the success of "Pushcart Tales."

Primed to take place from February 27 to March 8, Fantasporto is an international film festival celebrated for its high-quality, imaginative cinema, particularly in the realms of fantasy, science fiction, and horror.

Eligibility for Fantasporto requires that films be produced in 2025, presented as a Portugal premiere, and have English subtitles for non-English dialog.

Illenberger was elated by her film's achievement and is looking forward to the movie being appreciated by a foreign audience.

"I'm excited to find out if people will laugh or cry, or respond to it the same way the Filipino audience did," added the director.

RELATED: CinePanalo 2026 removes theme, previous genre restrictions