The Maginhawa Film Festival is Back!

Photos from Maginhawa Film Festival’s Facebook page

The Maginhawa Film Festival (MFF) is back on its second year of showcasing the best movies made by filmmakers from all walks of life. It features full-length films and short films that Manila Centenario hopes will foster a newfound love for locally made films in its audiences.

Unlike last year’s MFF where it was simply an exhibition of filmmaking skills, this year’s iteration is a competition which, according to Hector Barretto Calma, the brain behind Cinema Centenario, also “serves as the culminating activity for all the best films from the past year”.

46175105 416534672216113 2912563214866710528 o

When asked about the non-separation of documentary films and narrative fictions, Calma states that the committee members wanted to make sure that all genres of film are given the same amount of exposure.

Calma also notes that the film selection process was not easy as they received upwards of 100 combined full-length and feature film submissions. With regards to choosing which submissions would be included, they decided that craftsmanship and how the message was delivered were part of the criteria for short films while merit and the impact towards the audience were the main factors for the selection in the main competition.

44719442 408624419673805 1587244025100894208 o

Calma also said that since Cinema Centenario and MFF are all about featuring movies with diverse genres. With 10 main competition movies and 12 short films, we have several suggestions on what to watch per category:

Main Competition

46297015 417967518739495 5936446420063092736 o

46275213 417858188750428 6425040731424948224 o

46351752 417866862082894 5763468106865311744 o

Short Film

46323406 418399018696345 3031447978339467264 o

46413072 418399238696323 960919119102738432 o

46423721 418399212029659 7652676396191318016 o

46313365 418399128696334 2421391188687847424 o

The Maginhawa Film Festival will be happening from December 1 to December 29. Which films are you looking forward to seeing in the MFF this December?