Gaze into the power of film with QCinema’s 12th installment
Gaze into the power of film with QCinema’s 12th installment
November couldn’t come soon enough! QCinema is right around the corner, back to offer cinematic excellence with this year’s theme, ‘The Gaze’ — highlighting the plurality of voices that cinema amplifies. From the male gaze to the female gaze and the many different ways we see the world, cinema has the power to bring life to our perspectives.
This 2024, the premier film festival prides itself on curating 77 titles (now that’s a number to beat!), including 22 short films and 55 full-length films, across 11 sections. As a yearly treat, we at SINEGANG.ph are here to make sure you’re all set for another week of cinephile heaven.
Opening and Closing Films
The opening and closing films of this year’s QCinema International Film Festival are no other than the Directors’ Factory Philippines and Cloud / Taken from Nikkatsu
A first for QCinema, the opening film this year is the omnibus project Directors’ Factory Philippines, which includes Walay Balay, directed by Eve Baswel (Philippines) and Gogularaajan Rajendran (Malaysia); Nightbirds, directed by Maria Estela Paiso (Philippines) and Ashok Vish (India); Silig, directed by Arvin Belarmino (Philippines) and Lomorpich Rithy (Cambodia); and Cold Cut, directed by Don Eblahan (Philippines) and Tan Siyou (Singapore).
For the closing film, we have Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cloud, which premiered out of competition at the 81st Venice International Film Festival.
Asian Next Wave
A still from Viet and Nam / Taken from Epicmedia Productions
First in QCinema’s competition sections is the Asian Next Wave, bringing together Asian filmmakers with their captivating directorial debuts.
DON’T CRY, BUTTERFLY by Duong Dieu Linh (Vietnam)
Grand Prize Award Winner – Venice Critics' Week 2024
In a suburban town near Hanoi in the early 2000s, housewife Tam finds out that her husband is cheating on her. Instead of confronting him, she voodoos her husband back into love.
HAPPYEND by Neo Sora (Singapore)
Best Film Award Nominee – Venice Film Festival 2024
In near-future Tokyo, the threat of a catastrophic quake looms. Two friends prank their principal before graduation, leading to school surveillance installation.
MISTRESS DISPELLER by Elizabeth Lo (China)
Best Director Award Winner – Venice Film Festival 2024
Desperate to save her marriage, a woman in China hires a professional to go undercover and break up her husband's affair. With strikingly intimate access, Mistress Dispeller follows this unfolding family drama from all corners of a love triangle.
MONEYSLAPPER by Bor Ocampo (Philippines)
In dreary Porac Pampanga, a young man, Daniel (John Lloyd Cruz), abandons his motherland after winning the biggest cash prize in the history of Philippine lottery. Five years later, he is searching for home and redemption through the people that make up his past. With each visit, his story unfolds like the last digit of a winning combination.
PIERCE by Nelicia Low (Taiwan)
Best Film Award Nominee – Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2024
When his dangerous older brother is released from prison, high school fencer Jie helps him, defying their mother's attempts to bury his existence.
TALE OF THE LAND by Loeloe Hendra (Indonesia)
FIPRESCI Award Winner – Busan International Film Festival 2024
Follows an indigenous Dayak girl who is haunted by her parents' death in a land conflict. She lives in a floating house with her grandfather.
VIET AND NAM by Truong Minh Quy (Philippines)
Queer Palm Award Nominee – Cannes Film Festival 2024
In the underground coal mines, Nam and Viet, young miners, face danger and darkness. One prepares to leave for a new life, but they must find Nam's father's remains, a soldier lost in a faraway forest, retracing the past through memories.
QCShorts International
A still from WATER SPORTS / Taken from QCinema International Film Festival
This year, QCShorts goes international. The competition section is composed of six short film production grantees highlighting the talent of Filipino directors as well as six more Southeast Asian short films.
ALAGA by Nicole Rosacay (Philippines)
ARE WE STILL FRIENDS? by Al Ridwan (Indonesia)
HERE WE ARE by Chanasorn Chaikitiporn (Thailand)
IN THE NAME OF LOVE I WILL PUNISH YOU by Exsell Rabbani (Indonesia)
KINAKAUSAP NI CELSO ANG DIYOS by Gilb Baldoza (Philippines)
PEACELAND by Ekin Kee Charles (Malaysia)
REFRAIN by Joseph Dominic Cruz (Philippines)
RAMPAGE! (O ANG PARADA) by Kukay Bautista Zinampan (Philippines)
SAIGON KISS by Hồng Anh Nguyễn (Vietnam)
SUPERMASSIVE HEAVENLY BODY by Sam Villa-Real (Philippines)
WATER SPORTS by Whammy Alcazaren (Philippines)
WASHHH by Mickey Lai (Malaysia)
RainbowQC and New Horizons
A still from The Balconettes / Taken from Nord-Ouest Films
Finally, RainbowQC and New Horizons are the last in the competition sections for this year’s QCinema, with the former focusing on LGBTQIA+ stories and the latter on exhilarating debut features.
BABY by Marcelo Caetano (Brazil)
Best Film Award Winner – Biarritz International Festival of Latin American Cinema 2024
MY SUNSHINE by Hiroshi Okuyama (Japan)
Queer Palm Award Nominee – Cannes Film Festival 2024
POOJA, SIR by Deepak Rauniyar (Nepal)
Best Film Award Nominee – Venice Film Festival 2024
SEBASTIAN by Mikko Mäkelä (Belgium)
Grand Jury Prize Award Nominee – Sundance Film Festival 2024
THE BALCONETTES by Noémie Merlant (France)
Queer Palm Award Nominee – Cannes Film Festival 2024
BLUE SUN PALACE by Constance Tsang (USA)
French Touch Prize Award Winner – Cannes Critics' Week 2024
CU LI NEVER CRIES by Phạm Ngọc Lân (Vietnam)
GWFF Best First Feature Award Winner – Berlin International Film Festival 2024
SANTOSH by Sandhya Suri (France)
Un Certain Regard Award Nominee – Cannes Film Festival 2024
THE MAJOR TONES by Ingrid Pokropek (Argentina)
Generation Kplus Best Film Award Nominee – Berlin International Film Festival 2024
TOXIC by Saulė Bliuvaitė (France)
Golden Leopard Award Winner – Locarno International Film Festival 2024
Screen International
A still from Anora / Taken from FilmNation Entertainment
Here are the exhibition sections. First on the list is the highly-anticipated Screen International section, featuring critically acclaimed films.
AFTERNOONS OF SOLITUDE by Albert Serra (Spain)
Golden Seashell Award Winner – San Sebastián International Film Festival 2024
ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT by Payal Kapadia (India)
Grand Prix Award Winner – Cannes Film Festival 2024
ANORA by Sean Baker (USA)
Palme d'Or Award Winner – Cannes Film Festival 2024
GRAND TOUR by Miguel Gomes (Portugal)
Best Director Award Winner – Cannes Film Festival 2024
PHANTOSMIA by Lav Diaz (Philippines)
Premiered Out of Competition – Venice Film Festival 2024
SIMON OF THE MOUNTAIN by Federico Luis (Argentina)
Grand Prize Award Winner – Cannes Critics' Week 2024
THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte (France)
Cheval Noir Award Winner – Fantasia Film Festival 2024
THE END by Joshua Oppenheimer (Denmark)
Golden Seashell Award Nominee – San Sebastián International Film Festival 2024
THE ROOM NEXT DOOR by Pedro Almodóvar (Spain)
Golden Lion Award Winner – Venice Film Festival 2024
WHEN FALL IS COMING by François Ozon (France)
Best Screenplay Award Winner – San Sebastián International Film Festival 2024
QCLokal
A still from Makamisa: Phantasm of Revenge / Taken from Kamias Overground
A new exhibition section, QCLokal is a collection of blazing Filipino films, both short (Shorts Expo) and feature-length.
BROWNOUT CAPITAL by Pabelle Manikan (Philippines)
FORGETTING CLARA by Nicole Matti (Philippines)
INVISIBLE LABOR by Joanne Cesario (Philippines)
MAKAMISA: PHANTASM OF REVENGE by Khavn (Philippines)
MAY PUSO BA ANG MANIKA? by Shiri de Leon (Philippines)
OBJECTS DO NOT RANDOMLY FALL FROM THE SKY by Maria Estela Paiso (Philippines)
ROOM IN A CROWD by John Torres (Philippines)
YUNG HULING SWIMMING REUNION BEFORE LIFE HAPPENS by Glenn Barit (Philippines)
Rediscovery
A still from Ran / Taken from Herald Ace
Although the Restored Classics section did not make this year’s cut, we have the Rediscovery section instead to present films that never get old.
DELICATESSEN by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro (France)
Best Screenplay Award Winner – César Awards 1992
DOGTOOTH by Yorgos Lanthimos (Greece)
Un Certain Regard Award Winner – Cannes Film Festival 2009
RAN by Akira Kurosawa (Japan)
Best Foreign Language Film Award Winner – BAFTA Awards 1987
Contemporary Italian Cinema
A still from La Chimera / Taken from Tempesta
Another new offering of the film festival this year is a program boasting of Italian works.
DIABOLIK by Antonio Manetti and Marco Manetti (Italy)
Best Adapted Screenplay Award Nominee – David di Donatello Awards 2022
IO CAPITANO by Matteo Garrone (Italy)
Miglior Film Award Winner – David di Donatello Awards 2024
KIDNAPPED: THE ABDUCTION OF EDGARDO MORTARA by Marco Bellocchio (Italy)
Palme d'Or Award Nominee – Cannes Film Festival 2023
MY SUMMER WITH IRENE by Carlo Sironi (Italy)
Best Film Award Nominee – Pingyao International Film Festival 2024
LA CHIMERA by Alice Rohrwacher (Italy)
Palme d'Or Award Nominee – Cannes Film Festival 2023
PALAZZINA LAF by Michele Riondino (Italy)
Best Original Screenplay Award Nominee – David di Donatello Awards 2024
QCinema Selects
A still from Ghost Cat Anzu / Taken from Shin-Ei Animation
This new section features handpicked international films by QCinema.
GHOST CAT ANZU by Yoko Kuno and Nobuhiro Yamashita (Japan)
Best Motion Picture Award Nominee – Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival 2024
NO OTHER LAND by Rachel Szor, Yuval Abraham, Hamdan Ballal, and Basel Adra (Palestine)
Panorama Audience Award Winner – Berlin International Film Festival 2024
SHAHID by Narges Kalhor (Germany)
Caligari Film Award Winner – Berlin International Film Festival 2024
SUJO by Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero (Italy)
Grand Jury Prize Award Winner – Sundance Film Festival 2024
THE SPARROW IN THE CHIMNEY by Ramon Zürcher (Switzerland)
Golden Leopard Award Nominee – Locarno International Film Festival 2024
TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN by Soi Cheang (Hong Kong)
Best Asian Feature Award Winner (Audience Award Silver) – Fantasia Film Festival 2024
Before Midnight
A still from Motel Destino / Taken from Cinema Inflamável
If genre films are what you’re looking for, then the Before Midnight section is for you.
MOTEL DESTINO by Karim Aïnouz (Brazil)
Palme d'Or Award Nominee – Cannes Film Festival 2024
GAZER by Ryan J. Sloan (USA)
Best Motion Picture Award Nominee – Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival 2024
INFINITE SUMMER by Miguel Llansó (Estonia)
Best Motion Picture Award Nominee – Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival 2024
A SAMURAI IN TIME by Junichi Yasuda (Japan)
Best Asian Feature Award Winner (Audience Award Gold) – Fantasia Film Festival 2024
THE WAILING by Pedro Martin-Calero (Spain)
Golden Seashell Award Nominee – San Sebastián International Film Festival 2024
Special Screenings
A still from An Errand / Taken from Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival
Lastly, we have some Special Screenings to top it all off.
AN ERRAND by Dominic Baekart (Philippines)
Best Editing Award Winner – Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival 2024
IF MY LOVER WERE A FLOWER by Kaung Zan (Myanmar)
A THOUSAND FORESTS by Hanz Florentino (Philippines)
LOST SABUNGEROS by Bryan Brazil (Philippines)
Screening Schedules
The complete lineup of the twelfth installment of the QCinema International Film Festival was announced during the Press Conference held on October 22, 2024. The screening schedules can be viewed at qcinema.ph/schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
QCinema will run from November 8 to 17, 2024 / Taken from QCinema International Film Festival
Where can I watch the films?
This year, QCinema will have onsite screenings from November 8-17 at Gateway Mall, TriNoma, Shangri-la Plaza, and Power Plant Mall.
How much does a ticket cost?
All QCinema tickets will once again be uniformly priced at 300 pesos. The discounted price is 250 pesos for students and QCitizens.
Details about The Gaze, QCinema's 12th installment will be available at qcinema.ph, and updates are posted on its social media accounts - www.facebook.com/QCinemaPH, twitter.com/QCinemaPH, and www.instagram.com/qcinemaph.
SINEGANG.ph is an official media partner of this year’s QCinema International Film Festival.
