QCinema International Film Festival unveils 2024 lineup

QCinema International Film Festival returns with The Gaze as its theme, inviting audiences to explore diverse perspectives through film. From the masculine and feminine gaze to new ways of seeing the world, this year’s festival showcases 77 titles, including 22 short films and 55 full-length films, across 11 sections. 

Featuring a mix of Asian competition films, world cinema, genre works, and arthouse gems, The Gaze offers a rich and immersive experience that opens new insights into politics, gender, race, and more. 

Kicking off the 12th edition of QCinema is Directors Factory Philippines, an exciting omnibus film project created in collaboration with Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. This groundbreaking initiative features the works of four filmmakers from the partner country and four from other nations.

This year’s Directors Factory Philippines features four films: Walay Balay, directed by Eve Baswel (Philippines) and Gogularaajan Rajendran (Malaysia); Nightbirds, directed by Maria Estela Paiso (Philippines) and Ashok Vish (India); Silig, directed by Arvin Belarmino (Philippines) and Lomorpich Rithy (Cambodia); and Cold Cut, directed by Don Eblahan (Philippines) and Tan Siyou (Singapore).  

QCinema 2024 will close with Cloud by acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Premiered out of competition at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, Cloud has garnered international attention and was selected as Japan’s Best International Feature Film entry at the 97th Academy Awards. 

Competition Sections

QCinema 2024 will feature two main competition sections: Asian Next Wave and QCShorts International. This year, QCShorts has expanded to include films from across Southeast Asia, with six Filipino short film grantees competing alongside the region’s best. 

The Asian Next Wave Competition showcases some of the most exciting films from emerging Asian filmmakers, each at the onset of their storytelling careers. 

Among the lineup are films from three debuting female directors: Don’t Cry Butterfly by Dương Diệu Linh (Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore), the Grand Prize winner at Venice Critics’ Week; Pierce by Nelicia Low (Taiwan, Poland, Singapore), Best Director at the recent Karlovy Vary Crystal Globe Competition; and making its Asian premiere, Mistress Dispeller, a feature documentary by Elizabeth Lo (China, USA), winner of the NETPAC award for Best Asian Film at Venice. 

Four other debuts include Happyend by Neo Sora (Singapore, UK, USA), which also recently premiered in Venice; Tale of the Land by Loeloe Hendra (Indonesia, Philippines, Qatar, Taiwan), winner of the Fipresci prize in last month’s Busan; Viet and Nam by Truong Minh Quy (Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, France, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, USA), from Cannes’ Un Certain Regard; and finally, making its world premiere is Moneyslapper by Bor Ocampo (Philippines).

Competing in QCShorts International are Alaga by Nicole Rosacay, Kinakausap ni Celso ang Diyos by Gilb Baldoza, Refrain by Joseph Dominic Cruz, RAMPAGE! (o ang parada) by Kukay Bautista Zinampan, Supermassive Heavenly Body by Sam Villa-Real, and Water Sports by Whammy Alcazaren from the Philippines. 

Joining them from Southeast Asia are Are We Still Friends? by Al Ridwan (Indonesia); Here We Are by Chanasorn Chaikitiporn (Thailand), which made its international premiere at the Berlinale: Forum Expanded; In the Name of Love I Will Punish You by Exsell Rabbani (Indonesia), which made its world premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival; Peaceland by Ekin Kee Charles (Malaysia); Saigon Kiss by Hồng Anh Nguyễn (Vietnam/Australia/Germany), which received the Special Mention: Queer métrage Prize at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival; and Locarno-winning WAShhh by Mickey Lai (Malaysia/Ireland).

For this year’s edition, RainbowQC and New Horizons are now both international competition sections under the Special Critics Prize awards, with their respective juries. 

RainbowQC continues to celebrate LGBTQIA+ films, showcasing diverse stories of identity, love, and community with bold and authentic voices from queer cinema worldwide. New Horizons presents groundbreaking debut feature films from visionary new directors. 

RainbowQC includes three Cannes Queer Palm nominees: Baby by Marcelo Caetano, from Critics’ Week; The Balconettes by Noémie Merlant, from Midnight Screenings; and My Sunshine, by Hiroshi Okuyama, from Un Certain Regard. Two other titles round up this competition – Pooja, Sir by Deepak Rauniyar from Venice Orizzonti, and Sebastian by Mikko Mäkelä from this year’s Sundance World Dramatic Competition.

The New Horizons section includes Blue Sun Palace by Constance Tsang, winner of the French Touch Prize at Cannes Critics’ Week; Cu Li Never Cries by Phạm Ngọc Lân, which won this year’s Best First Feature in Berlin; Santosh by Sandhya Suri from Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, which is the UK’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards; The Major Tones by Ingrid Pokropek, selected for the Generation Kplus section at the 74th Berlin Film Festival; and Toxic by Saulė Bliuvaitė, which won this year’s Locarno Golden Leopard.

Exhibition Sections

The most awaited section of QCinema 2024, Screen International, showcases 10 films from world-renowned directors, each celebrated for their distinctive styles and acclaimed works. 

This year’s lineup includes two very recent titles from the San Sebastian Film Festival – Afternoons of Solitude by Albert Serra, a documentary feature that won three awards, including Best Film, and When Fall is Coming by François Ozon, which won Best Screenplay. 

From Cannes are four of its big winners: All We Imagine as Light by Payal Kapadia, the first Indian film in decades to compete in Cannes’ main competition, where it won the Grand Prix; the Best Director award winner, Grand Tour by Miguel Gomes, which is Portugal’s entry for the 97th Academy Awards; Critics’ Week section Grand Prize winner, Simon of the Mountain by Federico Luis; and the Palme d’Or winner, Anora by Sean Baker, touted as a strong Oscar contender.

Fresh from its Venice world premieres are from its out-of-competition berth, Pinoy auteur Lav Diaz with Phantosmia; The End, a musical-fantasy by Joshua Oppenheimer; The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre de la Patellièr and Matthieu Delaporte, the most expensive French film of 2024; and the Venice Golden Lion winner, The Room Next Door by Pedro Almodóvar.

QCinema also introduces exciting new sections to its lineup: QCLokal, highlighting local Filipino talents; Rediscovery, which brings classic films back to the big screen; Contemporary Italian Cinema, showcasing the best of modern Italian filmmaking; and QCinema Selects, a curated selection of standout films from around the world.  

The QCLokal section includes Room in a Crowd by John Torres, featuring a special live sound performance and stitched-together footage from the lockdown, and Rizal’s Makamisa: Phantasm of Revenge by Khavn, which recently won Best Feature at the Lausanne Underground Film and Music Festival, inspired by José Rizal’s unfinished third novel. 

It will also have the Shorts Expo, which presents five world premieres of remarkable short films such as Brownout Capital by Pabelle Manikan, Forgetting Clara by Nicole Matti, May Puso ba ang Manika? by Shiri de Leon, Objects Do Not Randomly Fall from the Sky by Maria Estela Paiso, and Yung Huling Swimming Reunion Before Life Happens by Glenn Barit, and the Southeast Asian premiere of Invisible Labor by Joanne Cesario.

The Rediscovery section lineup includes Delicatessen by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro; Dogtooth by Yorgos Lanthimos, which won the Prix Un Certain Regard at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards; and Ran by Akira Kurosawa, his final epic and widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made.

Contemporary Italian Cinema takes center stage with a compelling lineup of films that showcase the best of modern Italian storytelling.  Antonio and Marco Manetti bring us Diabolik, while Matteo Garrone presents Io Capitano. Marco Bellocchio’s Kidnapped: The Abduction of Edgardo Mortara delves into historical drama, and Carlo Sironi’s My Summer with Irene offers a captivating summer tale. Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera and Michele Riondino’s Palazzina Laf complete this exceptional selection, showcasing the brilliance of Italian and European filmmaking. 

QCinema Selects includes Ghost Cat Anzu by Yoko Kuno and Nobuhiro Yamashita, QCinema’s first anime film, which premiered at Cannes and won the Audience Award at Fantasia Film Festival; No Other Land by Rachel Szor, Yuval Abraham, Hamdan Ballal, and Basel Adra, winner of the Panorama Audience Award at the Berlin International Film Festival; Shahid by Narges Kalhor, a debut feature that took home two awards at Berlin; Sujo by Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero, which won the World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at Sundance; The Sparrow In The Chimney by Ramon Zürcher, premiered at Locarno; and Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In by Soi Cheang, one of Hong Kong’s highest-grossing films and its official entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards.

Other favorite sections are making a comeback at QCinema 2024. Before Midnight section embraces genres, delving into the fantastic, erotic, action thrillers and everything for late-night chills and thrills. Lastly, Special Screenings offer exclusive, must-see films for a truly unique cinematic experience.   

The Before Midnight section includes Motel Destino by Karim Aïnouz, which competed for both the Palme d’Or and Queer Palm at the 77th Cannes Film Festival; Gazer by Ryan J. Sloan, a self-financed debut that had its world premiere at Directors’ Fortnight, Cannes; Infinite Summer by Miguel Llansó, which premiered at the Fantasia International Film Festival; A Samurai in Time by Junichi Yasuda, winner of the Audience Award for Best Asian Feature at Fantasia; and The Wailing by Pedro Martin-Calero, which premiered in official competition at the San Sebastián International Film Festival.

The Special Screenings section includes An Errand by Dominic Baekart, If My Lover Were a Flower by Kaung Zan, The Marching Band by Emmanuel Courcol, A Thousand Forests by Hanz Florentino, and Lost Sabungeros by Bryan Brazil. Each film presents a distinct narrative, adding depth and variety to the festival’s rich program.

The festival will take place from Nov. 8 to 17 across Gateway Cineplex 18, Ayala Malls Cinema at Trinoma, Red Carpet at Shangri-la Plaza, and Powerplant Mall.

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