Acclaimed Filipino filmmaker Sari Dalena returns to the big screen with her latest work, Cinemartyrs, which will premiere in the Full-Length Feature Category at this year’s festival. Screenings will run from October 3 to 12, 2025 at Red Carpet Cinemas in Shangri-La Plaza, Ayala Malls Cinemas, and Gateway Cineplex.
Cinemartyrs tells the story of a young filmmaker determined to recreate forgotten massacres from Philippine history. After being challenged by a committee that questions her abilities, she sets out with her small crew to shoot in the very locations where these atrocities took place. When they begin filming at a site where a thousand men, women, and children were slaughtered, they unknowingly awaken angry spirits. Soon, the lives of the crew and the villagers are put in danger as the brutal traumas of history reverberate into the present.
The film is directed, written, and shot by Sari Dalena, one of the Philippines’ most influential independent filmmakers. Dalena holds a Master of Fine Arts in Film Production from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and is a recipient of the Fulbright-Hayes Scholarship, New York Asian Cultural Council Fellowship, and the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ 13 Artists Award. She is known for her bold works that examine memory, trauma, and resistance, including Rigodon, which won Best Feature at the International Panorama of Independent Filmmakers, and Ka Oryang, which won Best Picture and Best Director at the Cinema One Originals Film Festival. Her documentary Memories of a Forgotten War was screened at MoMA Documentary Fortnight in New York City and the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
Cinemartyrs features a stellar cast led by Nour Hooshmand, Paul Cedric Juan, Raquel Villavicencio, Angel Aquino, Lav Diaz, Kidlat Tahimik, Ligaya Amilbangsa, Soliman Cruz, Bong Cabrera, Laila Ulao, Giancarlo Abrahan, Iana Bernardez, and Nor Domingo, among others. The screenplay was co-written and edited by Keith Sicat, with Neil Daza serving as cinematographer. Dalena and Sicat also serve as executive producers.
With its blend of historical drama, spiritual tension, and social commentary, Cinemartyrs is poised to be one of the festival’s most gripping and thought-provoking entries.
Other full length entries include Child No. 82 by Tim Rone Villanueva, Bloom Where You Are Planted by Noni Abao, Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan by Dustin Celestino, Padamlágan by Jenn Romano, Paglilitis by Cheska Marfori and Raymund Barcelon, Open Endings by Nigel Santos and Keavy Vicente, Republika ng Pipolipinas by Renei Dimla, Raging by Ryan Machado, and Warla by Kevin Alambra.
Meanwhile, the short film competition features entries such as Ascension from the Office Cubicle by Hannah Silvestre, Figat by Handiong Kapuno, Hasang by Daniel de la Cruz, I’m Best Left Inside My Head by Elian Idioma, Kay Basta Angkarabo Yay Bagay Ibat ha Langit by Marie Estela Paiso, Kung Tugnaw ang Kaidalman sang Lawod by Seth Andrew Blanca, Please Keep This Copy by Miguel Lorenzo Peralta, Radikals by Arvin Belarmino, The Next 24 Hours by Carl Joseph Papa, and Water Sports by Whammy Alcazaren.
