The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival (Philippines) is accepting projects for feature films until September 16, 2022. *Only Filipino filmmakers can apply*

About the festival:
The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival is a key project of the Foundation first held in 2005 in partnership with the Cultural Center of the Philippines. A competitive film festival, it serves as a concrete means to achieve its purpose to discover gifted filmmakers. It also aims to invigorate the Philippine film industry by developing a new breed of Filipino filmmakers.

Eligibility:
– Only entries by Filipino filmmakers will be accepted to the Full Feature category. Entries by Filipino filmmakers residing abroad may be accepted only on exceptional cases such as in the submission of a superior material and if both director and producer can personally meet with the Selection Committee to discuss their material.
– Interested participants may submit a maximum of three entries. However, only one entry per proponent may be considered as a finalist.
– Works which are attached to film and television productions as well as those of local streaming platforms are eligible for submission as long as said works are not commissioned projects but originated from the filmmaker as proponent.  Commissioned works from commercial platforms are disqualified for consideration.
– All works must have their national and international premiere at the Cinemalaya Festival.
– Works already in principal photography or post production phase before April 2023 are disqualified.
– Failure to attend or participate in the Cinemalaya Film Lab disqualifies the filmmaker and his entry.
– Any entry selected as a finalist can no longer be withdrawn from the competition by the proponent.
– To ensure technical and professional quality, post-production work of the finalists should be undertaken by a reputable post-production house/company.
– All entries must be submitted in a data file HD format.
– The total production budget for the full length feature verified by final liquidation should not exceed P4,000,000 (Four Million Philippine Pesos).
– Pursuant to copyright laws, the music used in any entry must be original, licensed or in the public domain.
– Dialogue should be primarily in Filipino or any Philippine language as appropriate.
– The proponent(s) will undertake the English translation and subtitling of his/her film, subject to the approval of the Cinemalaya Foundation, Inc. (CFI).
– The Festival shall ensure the safety of the films throughout the period in which the cinematographic materials are in its custody.
– The decision of the Jury is final.

Application process:
Present the following to the Media Arts Division of the Cultural Center of thePhilippines, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City
– Fill the 2024 Entry Form (download it from http://www.culturalcenter.gov.ph or http://www.cinemalaya.org)
– Concept paper of the project. It may contain the premise(s) of the film you want to make; the genre, the tagline, the key characters and their descriptions. The concept paper should provide the Competition Committee a clear idea of the movie you want to make.
– Concept paper should be in Filipino or English (1 page, Courier 12 points font size)
– Storyline: a two page synopsis of the film project being presented (2 pages, Courier 12 points font size)
– Resume of proponent.
– Two (2) recent photos of proponent (2inx2in)
– Sample of a short film between 5–20 min. in mp4 format, directed by the proponent.

OFFLINE SUBMISSION
Submit in six (6) copies in a long brown envelope properly labeled with:
– The proponent’s name
– Title of film entry
– Contact details

ONLINE SUBMISSION
Entries may be submitted thru: https://bit.ly/Cinemalaya2024Full-LengthCallforEntries
– The sheets containing the concept paper must NOT bear the name of the proponent. Full scripts will not be accepted.
– If preselected the proponent must submit a sequence treatment to the Selection Committee on November 25, 2022. The sequence treatment is an outline that generally describes all the important scenes, story points and overall structure and tone of a screenplay. It should be in Filipino or English and the writer may include dialogues as long as the sequence treatment will be only 15 to 20 pages, using 12 pts font size.
– From the pitching session, the Competition Committee will choose 20 project proponents who will participate in a film laboratory and mentorship program  under the Cinemalaya Institute from January to March 2023.
– The final 10 selected projects will receive a seed production grant of P 1,000,000 to be released in tranches.

Important Dates:
– Deadline for submission – September 16, 2022 (6:00 pm PH Time)
– Announcement of 30 promising entries – October 28, 2022
– Pitching Date – November 11, 2022
– Submission of sequence treatment – November 25, 2022
– Film Laboratory and Mentorship Program – January – March 2023.
– Deadline for the submission of the completed full-length film – May 3, 2024
– Screening of completed films – August 2 – 11, 2024
– Awards Ceremony – August 11, 2024

To read the full rules and regulations please visit: 2024 Rules

To see other Call for Entries please follow the next link: “Call For Entries”.