There are three events that Ryan, Mai and I look forward to catching every year. One of them is Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Festival. Cinemalaya is a local film competition that showcases the cinematic works of Filipino filmmakers, both established and up and coming. I like Cinemalaya because I get to watch movies with creative and interesting story plots that’s a far cry from the usual Filipino movies we see on cinemas these days.

Here are the movies we have our eyes on from this year’s roster: 
1st ko si third

The film is about a 65-yr old woman that gets the chance to be reunited with her first love, and finally have the supposed first date they should have gone to four decades after they got separated. The film stars Nova Villa and Freddie Webb among others. 

#Y

The film tells the story of the adventures of this generation’s youth known for their attraction to the Internet and social media combined with a tale of booze, drugs and sex, and the nights they won’t remember but will never forget. Among the stars of this film are Elmo Magalona and Billy Crawford’s girlfriend, Coleen Garcia. 



Kasal

This is a drama about a gay couple whose relationship is challenged when they attend a wedding. The film also examines how a gay couple courses through the different institutions in Philippine society. 



Separados

The plot tells the story of 6 men who have separated from their wives and shows the different profiles of the failure of monogamy in a society where there’s no divorce. In an ironic twist of things, they’re brought together by fate and circumstance at a church wedding, where one of them takes a second chance at marital bliss. This film is actually inspired by a true story. This stars Jason Abalos, Anjo Yllana, Ricky Davao, Erik Santos, Alfred Vargas and Victor Neri. 



Cinemalaya is usually shown at CCP but it can also be seen in Ayala Malls: Alabang Town Center, Greenbelt, Fairview Terraces and Trinoma. The festival will run from August 1-10 this year. Tickets cost around Php150-200. We’ll be watching in Ayala Cinemas this time around though we usually watch in CCP. It’s just that we heard that some of the films we want to see are already sold out in CCP. Cinemalaya’s already on its 10th year so it’s definitely been gaining some recognition from the masses.