QCINEMA Project Market (QPM) in the Philippines, the industrial division of QCINEMA International Film Festival, has announced a lineup of 20 selected film projects for the third edition.
The Slate is made up of 12 projects from the Philippines and eight from neighbouring countries, featuring what organizers describe as bold voices, unique genres and globally resonating stories.
Several QPM alumni have already made marks at the international circuit. Malaysia’s Auter Woominjin’s “The Fox King” is set to be a world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival this month, highlighting the market’s role as an incubator for globally competitive productions. Alumni include “Don’t Cry, Butterfly” by dươngdiệu Linh, the winner of the Grand Prize of Venice Critics Week, and “Tale of the Land” by Loeloe Hendra, who won the Fipresci Award in Busan.
“QPM is not just a platform, it’s a bridge,” said Liza Diño of Qcinema Industry. “By connecting the story of Southeast Asia to the wider world, we provide filmmakers with the visibility and access they need to secure funding, partners and distribution.”
Regional projects span a wide range of genres and themes. Directed by Russell Morton and produced by Sophia Sim and Jeremy Chua, Singapore’s Penumbra follows a man washing away at a floating fish farm without any means of escape. From Thailand, Nontawat Numbenchapol’s “Ray of Light” will be appearing. This is a story split into classes on current film sets that have been styled after the 1960s glamour, forming a forbidden bond between puppet-like star actresses and invisible lighting technicians.
Cambodia’s “Romdur, the Evening Scent” is directed by director Romorpich Lissy and tells the intertwining story of three generations of Cambodian women in a country still plagued by war and silence. The 11th century fantasy of Singapore, “Strange Route,” directed by Ram Lee Shun and Mark Chua, abandons Yam-born Demigod as the shipwrecked beast re-awakes the islanders’ lost desires. Malaysian “The Plined” from director Jun Go follows an Indonesian immigrant teenager forced into an underground battle and a high school girl trapped in a volatile mother who finds sanctuary for each other.
Director Patiparun Bontalig’s Thai “Ghost of the Current” centers around a man who returns to a village along the river in Mekong after a catastrophic flood. Vietnam’s “The River Knows Our Name,” directed by Mai Hunti, explores life in Mekong’s undocumented floating home through a little girl’s birthday wish. From Myanmar’s “When the World Pauses”, director Han Thit Htoo Aung, 2019-2025, sin falls into a coma state, confessing his feelings to Naiyin, and having to wake up and find her.
Slate in the Philippines shows the diversity of filmmaking in this country. Glenn Barritt’s “Luzonensis and Flores Ensis” presents two prehistoric humanity from the Philippine and Indonesian conferences as migrant workers on settlers’ lands. Jaime Pacena II’s “Ozzy and Onie” follows a lover in 1996, where two stars crossed Manila, with the falling between faith, family and a falling system. Carl Joseph E. Papa’s “Sentinel” combines five lives that tackle fear and loyalty as student newspaper articles threaten to reveal the secrets of a dark school.
Jopy Arnaldo’s “Komixxx” combines the two Filipinos during a break from a Japanese film. This is an aspiring director and a “sexy” actress who wants to appear in “serious” films. Sam Manaxa’s “The Void Is Unfathomable in Idol Time” follows 19-year-old Rosemary, the sole witness to the boy’s loss of being drawn into the search by the child’s desperate mother Agnes.
Tyrone Acierto’s “What’s Left of Us” introduces a couple and their chronically ill daughter who are fighting to maintain their sanity in a disintegrated world consumed by a dementia-like plague. Dominique Becato’s “Papa Cool” unfolds during the Martial Law of Manila’s disco era as career women are entangled in love and jealousy with female bosses and their shared gigolo. Dodo Dayao’s “Dear Wormwood” disrupts the quiet life of a faithful woman living in four mountains, and the ghosts of time travel arrive and end the world.
Dan Vilgas’ “Amateur” tracks the rising basketball star who is ruined as he fixes the game and pulls into Manila’s betting empire. Dean Colin Marchal’s “Jagur” follows a lonely guard working on the night shift, who will become the sole witness to the murders of his building. Arjunmah H. Rebeta’s aging “non-existent” gaffer is concentrated in a dilapidated gaffer looking for his missing son in a town where corrupt cockfights are intertwined with political power, as if the eruption of the Tar volcano is looming. Khavn de La Cruz’s “Jollywood” depicts the dismantling of Tiktok and his family in a community where residents believe Tiktok and his American boyfriend are the answer to poverty, but 10-year-old Ronnie dreams of a better life.
The initiative will also support Quezon City’s cultural diplomacy efforts, strengthen its position as the Philippine film capital and strengthen its bid to become a UNESCO creative cinema city.
