By Neil Ramos
A ghost comes back from the dead to confess his love.
These are not exactly the movies audiences see every weekend at the mall.
And that is what makes the latest CinePanalo lineup, ermm, intriguing.
The festival brings together 26 films spanning comedy, horror, romance, drama, coming-of-age stories and political satire. Some are tender, some are bizarre, and a few sound almost too strange to explain in one sentence.
But at a time when getting people to choose a Filipino film over everything else competing for their attention is a challenge, perhaps strange is not such a bad place to start.
Take “Multwoh (Patay Na Patay Sa’yo),” a supernatural queer comedy directed by Rodina Singh and starring Sassa Gurl and Joao Constancia.
A college student dies suddenly, returns as a ghost and, instead of seeking revenge, comes back with one unfinished mission: finally saying “I love you.”
Then there’s “Beast,” directed by Lawrence Fajardo and starring John Arcilla, about a farmer and his loyal carabao embarking on a magical journey to Manila while chasing the ghost of a niece the years stole from him.
“Patay Gutom” puts Khalil Ramos, Ian Pangilinan, Agot Isidro and Cris Villanueva in a supernatural story involving a shut-in, a lonely ghost and an accidentally opened third eye.
Yes, a third eye.
“Stuck on You,” directed by Mikko Baldoza and starring Xyriel Manabat and River Joseph, follows a heartbroken manicurista who accidentally takes on a hitman’s job and finds herself caught in a deadly conspiracy.
Meanwhile, “Wantawsan,” directed by Joseph Abello and starring Joross Gamboa, Rita Daniela and Zion Cruz, follows a cash-strapped father whose encounter with a newly elected mayor sends him into an unexpected adventure.
Mind, not everything is deliberately offbeat.
“Apol of My Ai,” directed by Thop Nazareno and starring Zanjoe Marudo, Zion Cruz and Rochelle Pangilinan, deals with first love, family and growing up.
“Mono No Aware,” directed by BC Amparado and starring Juan Karlos Labajo and Perry Dizon, follows a Filipino worker in Japan who meets an elderly widower asking him for one final favor.
The student shorts are equally adventurous, with stories about a queer archivist preserving memories of the Philippines’ first Pride March, a young lawyer searching for her estranged activist mother, a transgender student entering a campus pageant and a father fighting bureaucracy after his daughter’s death.
The bigger question is whether these unusual stories can translate into something every film festival ultimately needs: people actually showing up.
CinePanalo is, in effect, making a case for Filipino movies by offering films that don't necessarily look like the usual multiplex fare. For audiences, that could mean discovering something they didn't know they wanted to see. For filmmakers, it means putting distinctly Filipino stories, including some wonderfully odd ones, on the big screen.
CinePanalo 2026 runs from Sept. 23 to Oct. 4 at Gateway Cineplex 18, TriNoma, Fairview Terraces, Ayala Malls Feliz, Ayala Malls Circuit, Ayala Malls Manila Bay and Market! Market!
The festival is spearheaded by Puregold.
