As the annual Manila Spanish Film Festival inches closer, Instituto Cervantes launches the PELÍCULA>PELIKULA poster for its 25th edition, one that is based on the gaze of prestigious Spanish photographer García de Marina, who provided the original photo.
The anticipated Manila Spanish Film Festival, PELÍCULA>PELIKULA, will run from October 5 to 11, in Power Plant Mall Cinema 2, Makati. Since its creation in 2002 by Instituto Cervantes, PELÍCULA has become a much-awaited annual event in Philippine theaters. This year’s festival will showcase over 20 acclaimed films from Spain, Latin America, and the Philippines.
The current poster’s design is based on a photo by García de Marina, a renowned Spanish photographer, featuring a mannequin with both front and back-facing masks—”one looking towards the past 25 years, and one looking towards the future”, in García de Marina’s words.
Born in Gijón, Spain, in 1975, García de Marina is a surrealist artist whose works’ primary subjects are everyday things—that of books, cups, and chess pieces. This bareness however, is contrasted and enhanced by his dream-like touch, itself not too far from that of another prestigious visual artist, René Magritte. García de Marina’s photos also enrich the catalogue of the Film Festival’s upcoming iteration.
PELÍCULA>PELIKULA’s lineup includes numerous genres such as dramas like Los domingos (Ruiz de Azúa, 2025), documentaries such as We the Hispanos (José Luis López-Linares, 2026), classic films like El desencanto (Jaime Chávarri, 1976); and animations such as Olivia y el terremoto invisible (Irene Iborra, 2025). Thanks to the collaboration of Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España, the Festival will feature the film series “Premios Goya on Tour,” with 7 recently awarded feature films, namely Sirāt (Oliver Laxe, 2025), Maspalomas (Jose Mari Goenaga and Aitor Arregi, 2025), La cena (Manuel Gómez Pereira, 2025), The Room Next Door (Pedro Almodóvar, 2024), Los Tigres (Alberto Rodríguez, 2025), El cautivo (Alejandro Amenábar, 2025), and Mariposas negras (David Baute, 2024).
Aside from Spanish productions, the Official Selection will showcase films from Latin America, including the Brazilian drama, Cyclone (Flavia Castro, 2025) and the Argentinian animated movie Gigantes, una aventura extraordinaria (Gonzalo Gutiérrez, 2024). Filipino cinema will also be screened through the program “En corto: short films from the Philippines, Latin America, and Spain”, which will be screened on October 11. As tradition, spectators will decide the Audience Choice Award, voting for their favorite films after each screening. Since its inception in 2004, this recognition has been one of the festival’s most beloved traditions. The winning title will be screened again at the festival’s closing ceremony.
All screenings are free of charge, with films presented in their original language and accompanied by English subtitles. The Festival also comprises other artistic activities, such as lectures, workshops, and concerts.
PELÍCULA>PELIKULA 2026 is a project by Instituto Cervantes de Manila, the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines, and AECID Philippines, in collaboration with Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España, the Film Development Council of the Philippines, the Film Academy of the Philippines, National Book Development Board – Philippines, Intramuros Administration, QCinema, Quezon City Screen Commission – Screen QC, Embajada Argentina en Filipinas – Argentine Embassy in the Philippines, Embassy of Brazil in Manila – Embaixada do Brasil em Manila, the Embassy of Chile in the Philippines, Power Plant Mall, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, UST Department of Modern Languages, UST Office of Alumni Relations, UST Alumni Association, Inc, Mapúa University, Meridian International College – MINT College, FEU Manila – Institute of Arts and Sciences, CIIT, UPD Department of European Languages, and Boysen Paints Philippines.
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