QCinema International Film Festival

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QCinema International Film Festival
QCinema International Film Festival logo.png
Location Quezon City, Philippines
Founded2013
Festival dateOctober or November
Website QCinema.ph

The QCinema International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Quezon City, Philippines. [1] The festival showcases local and international films, documentaries, and short films, and gives grants to their creators. [2] [3] As of 2017, the venues for the festival are Trinoma, Gateway Mall, Robinsons Galleria, and U.P. Town Center.

Contents

History

The QCinema International Film Festival was created in 2013 by the Quezon City Film Development Foundation (QCFDC), a Quezon City governmental commission that supported the city's filmmakers. [4] The Circle Competition was created for entrants to compete for their films to be shown at the film festival. Winners of the Circle Competition would be given a seed grant to help them produce more films. [5]

The first festival was held from October 3 to October 5 of that year, with 3,000 people attending. Only three filmmakers reached the Circle Competition, each winning a seed grant of ₱800,000 (US $10,000~). Those filmes were Lukas Nino by John Torres, Hello World by Joel Ferrer and Gaydar by Alvin Yapan. [6] Their films were selected for promoting nationalism, gender sensitivity, freedom, and excellence. [6] Several films from "New Breed" category of the 2013 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival were also shown.

In 2014 the festival was held from November 5 to 11, and reached an attendance of 5,000. [7] Thirty-eight films were shown, out of which eight received grants. Film categories were introduced, with "Screen International" highlighting foreign films, and "Children’s Classics" being films produced for children. The festival also featured a filmmakers’ forum. [8]

In 2015 the festival was held from October 22 to 31, with 10,000 people attending. [9] Sixty movies were shown throughout the festival, [10] with eight receiving grants. [11] The "Screen International" and "Children’s Classics" categories returned, with the latter being renamed to "Special Children’s Screening." New film categories included the "International Documentaries", "RainbowQC" (films about the LGBTQ community), [12] "Music Genius" (films about music legends), "Special Halloween Screening", "Throwback Ticket" (digitally restored movies), "Indie Nacional" (homegrown award-winning films), "Reloaded" (films by previous Circle Competition winners), "QCX Anthology", and "Asian Cinerama" (films recognized as outstanding by the Asian Film Awards Academy). [13]

QCinema has continued to expand and grow. In 2024, grant recipients in 2024 include: [14] [15]

In 2025, QCinema announced that it would expand RainbowQC from a section into a full film festival, called RainbowQC Pride Film Festival, focusing exclusively on LGBTQIA+ film content. [16] The new fesitval took place from June 25-27, 2025 to correspond with Pride Month. [17]

Programs

As of 2025, the festival has eleven main programs or sections: [18]

Competition sections

Exhibition sections

See also

References

  1. "Qcinema International Film Festival 2018". Primer Media. Archived from the original on January 29, 2019. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
  2. "Quezon City forms Film Development Commission". Manila Standard.
  3. Agting, Ira. "Quezon City launches QCinema Film Fest". Rappler. Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  4. "Quezon City Council – Sangguniang Panlungsod Lungsod Quezon". quezoncitycouncil.ph. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  5. "QCINEMA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL". Quezon City Government. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
  6. 1 2 "2013 Quezon City Film Fest – Pilipino Star Ngayon". philstar.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  7. "QCinema 2014: From Flashbacks to Fast Forward". 13 September 2014. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  8. "Grants are QC's 'gifts' to indie filmmakers – Inquirer Entertainment". entertainment.inquirer.net. Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  9. "Joy Belmonte on QCinema Int'l Film Festival, Herbert, Piolo, Sarah, Kris, Sharon & Yaya Dub". philstar.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  10. "Wide range of indie films in QC fest – Inquirer Entertainment". entertainment.inquirer.net. Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  11. Cruz, Oggs. "Full lineup: QC Film Festival 2015". Rappler. Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  12. Nisay, J. T. "QCinema 2015 as 'wonderland,' 'marketplace'". Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  13. "GUIDE: QCinema International Film Festival 2015". Cinema Bravo. 2 October 2015. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  14. Festival, Asian Film (November 14, 2024). "12th QCinema International Film Festival – Awards 2024". Asian Film Festivals. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
  15. Ramachandran, Naman (November 13, 2024). "'Viet and Nam,' 'Don't Cry, Butterfly' Among Winners at Philippines' QCinema Festival". Variety. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
  16. Wang, Mel (June 5, 2025). "QCinema Announces RainbowQC Pride Film Festival Lineup". rollingstonephilippines.com. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
  17. "QCinema to launch RainbowQC as full festival for Pride Month". www.msn.com. June 8, 2025. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
  18. "QCinema International Film Festival". QCinema International Film Festival. May 5, 2025. Retrieved August 20, 2025.