Lutas Film Festival Showcases Regional Filmmaking for the 11th Year

The 11th Lutas Film Festival premiered last Friday, November 14, 2025. As a steady presence in the burgeoning arts and film scene in Negros Oriental, the festival welcomed local enthusiasts and filmmakers to take part in showcasing their storytelling prowess and explore the boundaries of independent cinema.

The Lutas Film Festival is a yearly gathering of filmmakers organized by Foundation University and supported by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP). As a catalyst for regional filmmaking, the festival supports emerging voices in the region by sustaining a culture of storytelling. This edition celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the power of community as fundamental forces in filmmaking. To strengthen local projects and the varied narratives they carry, small-scale and independent filmmakers received the space to develop their stories and share their vision using film as the primary medium of expression.

The speaker for this year was Tito Genova Valiente, a distinguished anthropologist, cultural scholar and renowned film critic based in Naga City. Currently serving as the Director of the Institute of Bikol History and Culture at Ateneo de Naga University, he is a longtime member and former chair of the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino, the country’s oldest and most respected circle of film critics. Because of Tito’s sharp eye for talent and a passion for nurturing up and coming filmmakers, he led the workshop “Paano Magbasa ng Pelikula” and helped to crystallize the incipient visions of young filmmakers in realizing their dreams of compelling cinematic narratives. Mr. Tito introduced film language, and how visual and subtle elements constitute meaning in the varied forms of the film.

Ten films were screened in total, including titles coming from the peripheries of the region. Lutas Film Festival partnered with Citymall Cinema, Beetzee Inc. and the Dumaguete City Tourism office to bring the compelling stories into life. Important guests from the NCCA NCC and the FDCP office were present to take part in the screening. The Academic Film Society of the FDCP brought Academedia to the festival, which featured the 2019 experimental film Cleaners and Yung Huling Swimming Reunion Before Life Happens, followed by a talk-back session with the director Glenn Barit. Three giants of the filmmaking-scene, Butch Ibanez, Head of the NCC (National Committee on Cinema), Ryanne Murcia, Mindanao representative for the NCC, and Andrew “Andy” Alvarez, Dumaguete-based filmmaker and co-founder of Potlight Pictures, were invited to adjudicate the entries of the main competition.

The festival officially opened with a showing of Pelikula ng Bayan featuring the 2024 comedy-drama Love Child by Jonathan Jurilla. The screening of official entries began on the second day with Text Find Dad and send to 2366 by Kent Michael Kadungog, followed by the rest of the entries: Maria by Chris Jan Vergara, Bomba by Rey Anthony Villaverde, The Nation’s Political Wounds by Christoper Andaya, Espiho by Celestial Jane Abueva, Si Sir kag ang Gamay nga Bata by Seb Valdez, Walo Walo: Walo ka adlaw nga kanay, Walo ka adlaw nga labugay by Mery Grace Rama-Mission, Ang Gadya sa Suba by Daniel de la Cruz, Dangpanan by Stephen Kelly Mahusay and Walk With Jesus by Redh Honoridez.

The Lutas Film Festival ended with a showing of Tinigom, a multi-awarded film by AB Broadcasting student Keith Nemenzo that went on to bag an impressive sweep of accolades in the 2024 Sine Negrense: Negros Island Film Festival Inter-School Category, taking home Best Film, Best Director, best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Editing at the same time.

The Lutas Film Festival continues its mission to introduce regional cinema into the country, and realize the boundless potential of Negrense storytellers. As part of its foundational missions, the festival provides a vital platform for local voices to be heard and for authentic stories to be championed, rooted in the unique and rich cultural soil of Negros Oriental.

Below are the outstanding awardees of this year’s entries:

BEST FILM

Walo Walo: Walo ka Adlaw nga Kanay, Walo ka Adlaw nga Labugay

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE

Text FIND DAD and Send to 2366

BEST DIRECTOR

Redh Honoridez (Walk with Jesus)

BEST SCREENPLAY

Si Sir Kag ang Gamay nga Bata

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Bomba

BEST EDITING

Ang Gadya sang Suba