QCinema Film Festival 2022: Everything you need to know

QCinema International Film Festival is celebrating its 10th edition this year, with over 50 films from both local and international filmmakers having their premiere. The annual film festival is organized by the Quezon City Film Development Commission (QCFDC).

With the festival happening this November, we lined up some details that you need to know during the festival run.

Date and Venues

QCinema 2022 is running from November 17 to 26, 2022 with theatrical screenings for all films to be conducted at Gateway, Trinoma, Cinema ’76, SM North EDSA, and Rockwell Powerplant.

Online screenings for select film categories (QCShorts 2022, QCShorts 2021 and RainbowQC Shorts) will be available for streaming at VivaMax this November 22 to 26, 2022.

Theatrical screening tickets are priced 300 pesos while online tickets are for 299 pesos. Festival passes are yet to be announced.

Competition Films

Asian Next Wave

Elehiya by Loy Arcenas

QCinema’s main competition section is back. Asian Next Wave focuses on emerging filmmakers from Southeast Asia and East Asia with less than three features. Making the cut are the following:

• 12 Weeks by Anna Isabelle Matutina (Philippines, Cinemalaya NETPAC Awardee)
• Arnold is a Model Student by Sorayos Prapapan (Thailand)
• Ajoomma by Shuming He (Singaporean Oscar entry)
• Autobiography by Makbul Mubarak (Indonesia, FIPRESCI Prize winner at Venice Film Festival)
• Elehiya by Loy Arcenas (Philippines)
• Return to Seoul by Davy Chou (South Korean entry to Cannes)
• Plan 75 by Chie Hayakawa (Japanese Oscar entry and Cannes Golden Special Mention Winner)

QCShorts Competition

Ang Pagliligtas sa Dalagang Bukid by Jaime Morados

QCShorts, Qcinema’s competition category for locally-produced shorts, returns this year with six (6) new titles, each of which receive production grants of 350,000 pesos.

• Ang Pagliligtas sa Dalagang Bukid by Jaime Morados
• BOLD EAGLE by Whammy Alcazaren
• Luzonensis mula 7 hanggang 9 by Glenn Barit
• Mga Tigre ng Infanta by Rocky De Guzman Morilla
• Ngatta Naddaki y Nuang? (Why did the Carabao cross the Carayan?) by Austin Tan
• sa ilog na hindi nagtatapos by JT Trinidad

Exhibition Sections

Opening and Closing Films

Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund

QCinema 2022 will open with Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or-winning class satire Triangle of Sadness, which stars Dolly de Leon, Woody Harrelson, and Harris Dickinson. Distributed locally by TBA Studios, it will premiere this November 17 at Gateway (by invitation), followed by an additional screening at Rockwell Powerplant Mall.

Mihai Mincan’s To The North, an entry at this year’s Venice Film Festival starring Soliman Cruz, will close QCinema 2022’s festival run.

Screen International

Holy Spider by Ali Abbasi

QCinema’s specially-curated section, Screen International, showcases the world’s renowned directors whose distinctive styles make their acclaimed works undeniably their own. It will feature:

• Close by Lukas Dhont (Belgian Oscar entry)
• Corsage by Marie Kreutzer (Austria, Cannes Un Certain Regard entry)
• Crimes Of The Future by David Cronenberg (Canada, Cannes Main Competition entry)
• EO by Jerzy Skolimowski (Poland, Cannes Jury Prize winner)
• Holy Spider by Ali Abbasi (Danish Oscar entry)
• I Have Electric Dreams by Valentina Maurel (Costa Rica, Locarno Best Director winner)
• Walk Up by Hang Sang-soo (South Korea)

New Horizon

The Ordinaries by Sophie Linnenbaum

The New Horizon section heralds new directors and their acclaimed new works is QCinema’s New Horizon section. The section features:

• Next Sohee by July Jung (South Korea, Cannes entry)
• Piaffe by Anne Oren (Germany)
• Saint Omer by Alice Diop (French Oscar entry and Venice Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize winner)
• The Ordinaries by Sophie Linnenbaum (Germany)
• Utama by Alejandro Loayza Grisi (Bolivian Oscar entry and Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner)

RainbowQC

You Can Live Forever by Mark Slutsky and Sarah Watts

One of QCinema’s most distinctive sections on this side of Southeast Asia is RainbowQC. The films joining this year’s line-up for this category are:

• Angry Son by Kasho Iizuka (Japan)
• Billie And Emma (Philippines)
• Joyland by Saim Sadiq (Pakistan Oscar entry and Cannes’ Un Certain Regard Jury Prize and Queer Palm winner)
• Portrait of a Lady on Fire by Céline Sciamma (France)
• RainbowQC Shorts (i get so sad sometimes by Trishtan Perez; Isang Daa't Isang Mariposa by Norvin delos Santos; Alingasngas ng mga Kuliglig by Vahn Leinard Pascual; Dikit by Gabriela Serrano; and How to Die Young in Manila by Petersen Vargas)
• Stranger By The Lake by Alain Guiraudie (France)
• The Divide by Catherine Corsini (France)
• You Can Live Forever by Mark Slutsky and Sarah Watts (Canada)

Special Screenings 

Love Life by Kōji Fukada

The Special Screenings section is another remarkable showcase for their Philippine premieres.

• Love Life by Kōji Fukada (Japan/ France, Venice Film Festival Golden Lion winner)
• The Damned Don't Cry by Fyzal Boulifa (France/ Morocco)
• The Sales Girl by Janchivdorj Sengedorj (Mongolia, New York Asian Film Festival Top Prize winner)
• When The Waves Are Gone or Kapag Wala Nang Mga Alon by Lav Diaz (Philippines)

Midnight Series

Nocebo by Lorcan Finnegan

Another must-watch section is Midnight Series which features three spine-tingling titles.

• Huesera by Michelle Garza Cervera (Mexico)
• Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon by Ana Lily Amirpour (USA)
• Nocebo by Lorcan Finnegan (Ireland/ Philippines)

Digitally Restored Classics

Itim by Mike de Leon

The Digitally Restored Classics features newly restored versions of unforgettable films by two celebrated directors.

• In The Mood For Love by Wong Kar-wai (Hong Kong)
• Itim (The Rites of May) by Mike de Leon (Philippines)

Advance Screenings

Bones and All by Luca Guadagnino

A new festival section that offers a first-look at exciting coming attractions is also being launched this year.

• Argentina, 1985 by Santiago Mitre (Argentine Oscar entry and Venice Film Festival FIPRESCI winner)
• Bones and All by Luca Guadagnino (USA)
• Nanny by Nikyatu Jusu (USA, 2022 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner)
• She Said by Maria Schrader (USA)

Asian Shorts

The Headhunter's Daughter by Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan

The Asian Shorts program also returns. It is a curated program of must-see shorts in their regional premieres. The short films in this program are:

• Dancing Colors by M. Reza Fahriyansyah (Indonesia)
• Four Nights by Deepak Rauniyar (Nepal)
• Lili Alone by Zou Jing (Hong Kong)
• Papaya by Timmy Harn (Philippines)
• The Headhunter's Daughter by Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan (Philippines, Sundance Festival 2022 Short Film Grand Jury Prize winner)
• The Water Murmurs by Story Chen (China, Cannes 2022 Palme d'Or - Best Short Film winner)

QCinema 2022 Film Schedule

Below are the official schedule for QCinema in Gateway, Trinoma, SM North EDSA, Cinema '76 and Rockwell Powerplant Mall.

“It has grown bigger and stronger beyond our dreams and much sooner than our expectations. It is like the making of a film, QCinema’s growth has been a collaborative effort. While it started as a brainchild of mine 10 years ago, it took a whole city and the efforts of many sectors to propel it to what it is now, one of the country’s most formidable film festivals” says Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte.

For more details about QCinema's 10th anniversary presentation, please visit qcinema.ph.

Film Geek Guy is a media partner of QCinema International Film Festival 2022