The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Fes

The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival is the country's most outstanding indie film event. Since it began in 2005, Cinemalaya has grown in leaps and bounds both film-wise and audience-wise. The ten-day festival is held during the 3rd week of July each year at six venues of the the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Aside from the festival, Cinemalaya gives grants for the production of full-length digital films each year -ten for new filmmakers, and five for more established directors. Among the Cinemalaya films that have reaped world-wide acclaim are ANG PAGDADALAGA NI MAXIMO OLIVEROS (The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros, 2005); ENGKWENTRO (Encounter) which won two major awards at the 2009 Venice International -the Orizonti and the Luigi De Laurentiis Awards; and one of this year's productions ANG BABAE SA SEPTIK TANK (The Woman in the Septic Tank) shall be the country's representative in next year's Oscar Awards. Cinemalaya also screens Exhibition Films in different modules, has a two-day Film Congress, and recently initiated the Manila Film Financing Forum to introduce prospective producers to promising indies.