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What to expect at the 2024 Cinemalaya Film Festival

Now on its 20th edition

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Every cinephile’s much-awaited annual independent film festival is back, now on its 20th year. Yup, that’s two decades! This year’s edition of the Cinemalaya Film Festival brings the theme “Loob, Lalim, Lakas” to life — with a promise to deliver top-tier visual storytelling that will deeply capture the Filipino cinematic soul.

Planning to go? Here are some things to expect:

A fresh set of competing films

The 20 th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival kicks off on August 2 with the opening film, “The Gospel of the Beast” by Sheron Dayoc, which was recognized in two different international film festivals. After which, all full-length and short feature films competing for the coveted Balanghai trophy will be screened in different schedules.

Here are the 10 films competing for Full-Length Category:

  • “Aliputo” at Muog by JL Burgos
  • “An Errand” by Dominic Bekaert
  • “Balota” by Kip Oebanda
  • “Gulay Lang, Manong” by BC Amparado
  • “Kantil” by Joshua Caesar Medroso
  • “Kono Basho” by Jaime Pecana II
  • “Love Child” by Jonathan Jurilla
  • “The Hearing” by Lawrence Fajardo
  • “The Wedding Dance” by Julius Lumiqued
  • “Tumandok” by Richard Salvadico and Arlie Sumagaysay

On the other hand, below are the 10 competing Short Feature films:

  • “Abogbaybay” by PR Monencillo Patindol
  • “All this wasted space” by Cris Bringas
  • “Ambot Wala Ako Kabalo Unsay I-Title Ini” by Rey Anthony Villaverde
  • “Cross My Heart and Hope to Die” by Sam Manasca
  • “I Was Walking on the Streets of Chinatown” by Ryan Capili
  • “Mama” by Alexandra Brizuela
  • “Mariposa” by Melanie Faye Tampos
  • “Pamalandog sa Danow (Reflection in the Marsh)” by Breech Asher Harani
  • “Primetime Mother” by Sonny Calvento
  • “The Red Trails (An Baga sa Dalan)” by Mariel Ritchie Jolejole and Roniño Dolim

View the full screening schedule here.

Ayala Malls, The Metropolitan Theater screenings

While it’s sad that Cinemalaya won’t be held in its usual home, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (which is under construction, btw), the film festival will be screened in different Ayala Malls Cinemas. Film-watchers can conveniently choose the nearest one to them. The main venue for the festival is Ayala Malls Manila Bay.

Below is the list of participating Ayala Malls Cinemas:

  • Greenbelt
  • Trinoma
  • UP Town Center
  • Market! Market!

Tickets can be purchased on-site or via sureseats.com.

Meanwhile, viewers can catch some non-competing films at the prestigious The
Metropolitan Theater for free. See the list of films here.

Distinguished set of judges

Leading this year’s jury is Golden Globe and BAFTA Awardee and Cinemalaya 2023 Best Supporting Actress Ms. Dolly de Leon. She will be joined by multi-awarded director, editor, composer, and writer Jerrold Tarog, renowned critic and academic Nicanor Tiongson, Berlinale film curator Nicola Marzano, and Dhaka International Film Festival founder and director, Ahmed Muztaba Zamal.

They are tasked to evaluate the competing films and choose which ones are deserving of the coveted Balanghai trophies.

Meanwhile, the jury for NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) Award will compose of award-winning local filmmaker and producer Monster Jimenez, Russian film producer Nina Kochelyaeva, and Cinemalaya veteran Jay Abello.

Never-before-screened films

Apart from the feature films, Cinemalaya will show never-before-screened films from acclaimed Filipino directors in its Premiere Section.

List of films below:

  • “Rizal” by National Artist Marilou Diaz-Abaya
  • “Lost Sabungeros” by Bryan Brazil
  • “And So it Begins” by Ramona Diaz
  • “Abenida” by Luisito Lagdameo Ignacio
  • “Asog” by Sean Devlin
  • “Guardia de Honor” by Jay Altajeros
  • “Lola Magdalena” by Joel C. Lamangan
  • “Transients” by Kyla Romero

Powerful actresses competing for the Best Actress award

When I saw the film trailers, I immediately noticed the power lineup of actresses competing for the Balanghai trophy.

Renowned actress Marian Rivera will make her Cinemalaya debut with “Balota”, and award winning actress Mylene Dizon is up for a comeback with the “Healing.” Mainstream actress Jane Oineza will play a young mom in “Love Child”, alongside her on and off-screen partner, RK Bagatsing.

Cordilleran actress Mai Fanglayan is also playing a lead role, while film and theatre actress Gabby Padilla is back with “Kono Basho” after competing last year with her Cinemalaya film, “Gitling.”

What are you planning to watch from this year’s edition of Cinemalaya?

Entertainment

Now Playing: The Devil Wears Prada 2 — Still sharp, still human

Growth over gloss

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The Devil Wears Prada 2
All images are screenshots from the Final Trailer of The Devil Wears Prada 2

I didn’t watch The Devil Wears Prada when it first came out in 2006.

I came to it a few years later, at a time when I was still figuring things out—career, identity, even the kind of movies I allowed myself to enjoy. It wasn’t something I would’ve picked on my own back then.

At the time, it felt like a story about love versus career. I was about to graduate with a Mass Communication degree, unsure of where I was headed, trying to make sense of both ambition and connection.

Watching it again recently, it lands differently.

It’s less about choosing between two things—and more about understanding who you are, and having the courage to follow that honestly.

That’s what makes The Devil Wears Prada 2 feel so deliberate. It doesn’t just revisit the past. It builds on it.

Growth over spectacle

There’s a version of this sequel that could’ve leaned entirely on nostalgia. Bigger moments. Sharper outfits. A louder version of what already worked.

This isn’t that.

The film is grander, but in ways that feel earned. It embraces the 20-year gap instead of ignoring it, placing its characters exactly where you’d expect them to be—not in status, but in spirit.

Miranda Priestly still commands every room, but no longer feels as unassailable as she once did.

Andy Sachs carries experience. She’s no longer the green assistant, but an accomplished journalist whose relationship with Miranda still shapes her decisions.

Emily Charlton feels fully realized—no longer orbiting power, but owning her place within it.

And Nigel remains a pillar. Dependable to both Miranda and Andy, an almost invisible hand that guides more than it claims.

None of them feel stuck in who they were. That’s the point.

What it says about the work

This is where the film hit me the hardest.

Working in tech media, I constantly see the push toward generative AI—toward making everything faster, more efficient, more scalable. A lot of it is impressive. Some of it is genuinely useful.

But some of it is also unsettling.

We’re at a point where generative visuals can fool people. Where audio—music even—can sound convincing enough that you stop questioning where it came from. That’s the part that lingers.

Because music, for me, is personal. It’s how I process things. And realizing that something artificial can mimic that emotional weight—even if imperfectly—feels dangerous in a quieter, harder-to-define way.

This film doesn’t shout about AI. It doesn’t need to. Instead, it argues for something more fundamental.

That the human touch still matters.

That taste, judgment, and intention aren’t things you can replicate at scale.

That the pain of heartbreak, the joy of victory, and the complicated weight of living—these are things that come from experience. And experience leaves a mark. We leave a part of ourselves in everything we create, whether we mean to or not.

That’s something I don’t think can ever be fully replicated.

AI is a helpful tool. But it should not be relied upon for things that require a piece of our soul.

Direction that understands power

A lot of that message lands because of how The Devil Wears Prada 2 is directed.

Blocking and staging do most of the talking. Who stands where, who moves first, who stays still—these choices define power before any dialogue kicks in.

The camera follows emotion closely. Moments of uncertainty feel slightly unsteady. Scenes of control are composed and precise.

It’s not trying to impress you. It knows exactly what it’s doing.

Sound that knows its place

The sound design follows that same discipline.

Nothing competes. Nothing distracts.

Every element feels intentional–supporting the scene instead of demanding attention. It’s cohesive in a way that’s easy to overlook, but once you notice it, you realize how much it’s doing.

Dialogue that winks, but doesn’t linger

There are a few “wink” moments–lines that echo the original, callbacks that longtime fans will catch instantly.

But the film shows restraint.

It never lets those moments take over. They’re accents, not the foundation.

Nostalgia used with purpose

That restraint carries through how the film handles nostalgia as a whole.

It doesn’t rely on it. It uses it.

Parallels to the original are there, but they exist to highlight change—not to recreate what once worked.

It’s less about remembering.More about understanding what time has done.

Why it works now

What makes The Devil Wears Prada 2 land isn’t just that it’s well-made.

It’s that it feels necessary.

In a world that keeps pushing toward speed, output, and efficiency, this film slows things down just enough to remind you what actually matters.

The intention behind every line, every scene feels sharp—like it could only come from people who care. Who care about the craft. Who care about making something that connects.

It might sound like a tired argument. But it’s still true.

The breadth and depth of humans who care is irreplaceable.

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WATCH: Teaser trailer for DC Studios’ Clayface

DCU’s standalone horror thriller

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Courtesy: Warner Bros. Studios

The teaser trailer for DC Studio’s horror thriller, Clayface, has just been released. It is the studio’s first-ever foray into the genre, with the film co-written by Mike Flanagan and directed by James Watkins.

The R-rated standalone film is still part of the new James Gunn DC Universe, taking place within the main DCU timeline before the events of the 2025 Superman.

It stars Tom Rhys Harries as the titular Gotham City villain. He is joined by Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella, Eddie Marsan, Nancy Carroll, and Joshua James.

The film opens internationally on October 21 and in North America on October 23.

Here’s a quick look at the film’s teaser trailer:

Clayface explores one man’s horrifying descent from rising Hollywood star to revenge-filled monster.

The story revolves around the loss of one’s identity and humanity, corrosive love, and dark underbelly of scientific ambition.

Joining Watkins in his creative team are director of photography Rob Hardy, production designer James Price, editor Jon Harris, visual effects supervisor Angus Bickerton, costume designer Keith Madden, and casting director Lucy Bevan.

In addition, here’s a quick look at the movie’s teaser poster:

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DC’s Clayface teaser shows off a horror-filled superhero movie

Our first taste of James Gunn’s Gotham City will be frightening.

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Last year, James Gunn’s Superman sparked an impressive wave of excitement for the new DC Universe. Though this year’s spotlight is on Supergirl, Clayface is also getting an eponymous film, giving us our first taste of Gotham City in this bustling universe.

There’s been a lot of mystery surrounding this film. For one, Gotham City’s DCU debut is based on, arguably, a secondary villain, rather than any member of the Bat-Family. Secondly, Gunn has confirmed that the movie will heavily lean towards the horror genre, a feat others have tried but often failed.

Today, DC Studios has released the first teaser trailer for Clayface. And no, Gunn wasn’t kidding when he said this is going to be a horror film.

Tom Rhys Harries plays Matt Hagen, a rising movie star suddenly scarred by a violent attack. Desperate to resurrect his career, he resorts to a scientific experiment that turns his skin into moldable clay.

As the teaser hints, the film will not shy away from body horror, including shots of Hagen’s disfigured face either from the attack or from the clay. It’s a big departure from the more traditional style of Superman or Supergirl. But it’s a gamble that might pay off for a universe as young as the DCU.

It’s also apropos that the DCU’s first horror film is getting a horror-themed premiere. Clayface will premiere in cinemas on October 23, 2026.

SEE ALSO: Superman sequel, titled Man of Tomorrow, comes out in 2027

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