Cinemalaya 2026 Best Film Mag-iina (The Mothering) will serve as the closing feature of the 10th Ngilngig Asian Fantastic Film Festival, happening from October 24 to 28 at Cinematheque Centre Davao.
Returning with the theme “Metamorphosis,” this year’s five-day festival will showcase 50 short films and five regional feature premieres, highlighting genre storytelling inspired by myths, shifting identities, and diverse cultural perspectives across Asia.
Directed by Giancarlo Abrahan and written by Guelan Varela-Luarca, Mag-iina delves into grief, inherited trauma, and the complicated bonds between women. The horror-drama follows Anj, played by Janine Gutierrez, who returns to her family home as the 40th day after her estranged father’s death approaches, marking the time when his spirit is believed to make its final departure.
Rather than finding closure, Anj encounters a household gripped by madness, where three generations of women confront a legacy of love that blurs the line between devotion and evil.
The film also stars Cherry Pie Picache, Agot Isidro, Lucas Andalio, Ness Roque, Jackie Lou Blanco, Bart Guingona, and Alejandra Cortez. Its creative team includes cinematographer Joy A. Aquino, editor Benjamin Tolentino, production designer Katrish Aristoki, musical scorer David Yuhico, and sound designer Mikko Quizon, with Bianx Basilio and Dee Nermal leading production.
At Cinemalaya 2026, Mag-iina won Best Film in the Full-Length Category, along with Best Director for Abrahan, Best Screenplay for Varela-Luarca, Best Supporting Actor for Andalio, Best Production Design for Aristoki, and Best Original Musical Score for Yuhico. Andalio shared the Best Supporting Actor award with KD Omalin of Hand of God.
Adapted from Varela-Luarca’s play Corridors, the film builds its horror through the oppressive atmosphere of the family home rather than relying solely on dark corridors or sudden scares. Abrahan presents the house as an inescapable space where love itself becomes a force that binds its inhabitants to a painful legacy.
“The horror is not hidden in the shadows. It is in the light, in the way the light refuses to reassure,” Abrahan said in his director’s statement. He described the film’s central family dynamic as “not malice in its pure form, but love that has curdled inside the container of family.”
Joining Mag-iina in the festival’s 2026 feature showcase are the Leyte production I Grew an Inch When My Father Died, Kazakhstan’s Sasyq (Stinker), Vietnam’s Antithesis of Gemini, and the Japan-Taiwan co-production The Curse.
Ngilngig began in 2010 as a grassroots movement in Davao showcasing regional short films before becoming a formal horror film festival in 2013. It has since grown into a major gathering for fantastic cinema in Southeast Asia. Its name comes from the Bisaya word “ngilngig,” which describes something ghastly, macabre, or awe-inspiring, reflecting the festival’s celebration of folklore, urban legends, and cultural myths through genre filmmaking.
Beyond film screenings, the festival will hold the Ngilngig Film Camp from October 19 to 22, educational workshops at The Green House Cinema, a Work-in-Progress Night, and an awards night on October 28 at The Commons in Matina Town Square.
Organized by Pasalidahay, Inc., in partnership with the Japan Foundation, Film Development Council of the Philippines, Film Academy of the Philippines, Sony, Aputure, and the Davao City Office for Culture and the Arts, the festival continues to provide a platform for bold and distinctive regional stories.
