QCinema revealed its Southeast Asian Shorts Competition lineup on Tuesday, Oct. 10, with five in 10 films coming from Filipino directors.
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Cross My Heart And Hope To Die by Sam Manacsa, Philippines
The film follows Mila who continues to work despite being unpaid, trying to find comfort in a love interest that stems from constant phone calls. But the sliver of hope for Mila may end in tragedy and somber love songs.
Watch the trailer below.
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Dominion by Bea Mariano, Philippines
The film revolves around people and landscapes held captive by an “evil eye” a century ago and threatens to wreak havoc in the present time through ragged daydreams. It follows a persona narrating the story through captions and leafing through colonial photographs before digressing to eat a fruit and enter a cave on a tropical island.
Watch the trailer below.
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Hito by Stephen Lopez, Philippines
The film centers on 14-year-old Jani who lives in a dystopian world bereft of empathy in a place filled with nuclear reactors and military curfews. She and her new friend Kiefer (a talking catfish) prepare to break through the walls toward freedom.
Watch the trailer below.
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Kung nga-a Conscious ang mga Alien sang ila Skincare (The Thing About Aliens And Their Skin Care) by Seth Andrew Blanca and Niño Maldecir, Philippines
The film perpetuates that aliens have been living among the citizens for a very long time.
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When You Left Me On That Boulevard by Kayla Abuda Galang, Philippines
The film is a diaspora cinema that follows teenager Ly and her cousins getting high prior to a family thanksgiving at their aunt's home in Southeast, San Diego in 2006.
Watch the trailer below.
The remaining films from the list include Basri And Salma In A Never-Ending Comedy by Khozy Rizal, Indonesia; Buoyant by Toan Thanh Doan & Hoang-Phuc Nguyen-Le, Vietnam; I Look Into The Mirror And Repeat Myself by Giselle Lin, Singapore; MOP by Joon Goh, Malaysia; and The Altar by Moe Myat May Zarchi, Myanmar.
These films are slated to run from November 17 to 26, 2023.
Out of 380 entries all over Southeast Asia, 10 short films were chosen to vie in the annual QCSEA Competition of QCinema International Film Festival.
QCinema International Film Festival is a yearly film festival conducted in Quezon City. The festival awards funds filmmakers of short films, documentaries, and movies throughout the world.
