After the successful conclusion of the 22nd Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) continues to bring stories reflecting the realities of Filipinos beyond cinemas through the CCP Channel. This August, the lineup explores humanity’s search for belonging and the innate need to hold onto what matters.

Featuring Cinemalaya and Gawad CCP Para sa Alternatibong Pelikula at Video films, and Virgin Labfest (VLF) plays, the CCP Channel’s August lineup offers various perspectives on what it means to live through difficult times.

War and uncertainty through the lens of Cinemalaya

This August, the CCP Channel expands its Cinemalaya collection with films that discuss the scarring dilemma left by war, political change, personal struggle, and the choices people make when faced with uncertainty.

Director Miguel Lorenzo Peralta’s Please Keep This Copy turns to students in an elite private Catholic school during a period of political change and violence. Through scanned documents, this 2025 film takes place in an environment shaped by influence and control that urges students to navigate school life while discovering their own voices. 

A seaman struggles with debt in director Seth Andrew Blanca’s Kung Tugnaw ang Kaidalman sang Lawod. As he grows anxious, something unseen begins to follow him through the ship’s corridors, making it difficult to tell where fear ends and something else begins in this 2025 analog horror film. 

Director Myra Aquino’s Beauty Queen follows the life of former beauty queen Remedios Gomez. Set in Pampanga during the Japanese occupation, this biopic recounts how Gomez joined the Hukbalahap resistance with her brother Oscar after Japanese forces kill their father. This 2021 Best Cinemalaya Short Film has been cited for its bold retelling of a neglected chapter in Philippine history.

Writer-director Nerissa Picadizo’s Requited narrates the bicycle journey of a man living with Parkinson’s disease. While struggling with his faith, he meets the person he has been trying to leave behind and the one he still wants to be with. For its contribution to Philippine Tourism by featuring scenery from Manila to Mt. Pinatubo Lake, this 2017 full-length film was awarded by Cine Turismo in 2028.

Amplifying voices in experimental cinema at Gawad Alternatibo

The CCP Channel’s August lineup also features works from the Gawad CCP Para sa Alternatibong Pelikula at Video. While spotlighting Filipino talent in alternative storytelling, these Gawad Alternatibo short films invite audiences to revel in realities that often remain outside the mainstream. 

Directors Regina Mae I. Manuel and Charles Dewey Vitto’s Eyen Kami Deyuhan (We Are from Here) echoes the fight of the Dumagat community, whose connection to their land is deeply tied to their lives and identity. It was featured under the Documentary category of the 37th Gawad Alternatibo.

Also presented under the 37th Gawad Alternatibo’s Documentary category is director Jhezarie Santiago’s Padaluyin. This 2025 film tells the story of Joel, a Dumagat who had to leave school and work from a young age. When given the opportunity to pursue his dream of becoming a police officer, he begins to imagine a future beyond the circumstances he has known. 

In director Edsel P. Gasmen’s film We Were Here Where We Wear, the environmental cost of fast fashion is viewed through the everyday ritual of checking one’s outfit. Under the Experimental Film category of the 37th Gawad Alternatibo, the film draws attention to the waste and emissions produced by the industry.

A video call between mother and daughter during the COVID-19 pandemic is captured in director Franky C. Arrocena’s Replay. Presented under the Short Feature category of the 2022 Gawad Alternatibo, the conversation reveals the strain of distance and financial hardship while showing the care that remains between them despite being apart.

Family secrets and childhood fears in Virgin Labfest

From VLF 15: Titibok-Tibok is playwright Anthony Kim Vergara and director Ian Segarra’s A Family Reunion. A family’s bunso returns from Japan with his fiancée, forging a reunion. The occasion soon brings old tension to the surface and reveals the complications that can emerge when relatives come together.

Also directed by Segarra is playwright Rolin Migyuel Obina’s Mga Bata sa Selda 43. In this play from VLF 14: Silip, two brothers are convinced that they have been kidnapped by aliens. Realities are distorted as they encounter an eccentric stranger.

Stories that remain beyond the screen

This August, the CCP Channel presents films and plays that reflect the aspirations and challenges that Filipinos face. Launched in 2025, it transforms into a digital record of the nation’s evolving artistry and talent with its growing curation.

The CCP Channel makes Philippine arts and culture more accessible by bringing CCP productions and programs beyond the confines of stages and screens, anytime, anywhere, at affordable prices. Subscriptions to the CCP Channel are available at PHP 99 monthly or PHP 599 annually.