International Film Festival
November 8 – 17, 2024
Cinema Partners:
Gateway and Ali Mall Cineplex
Ayala Mall Cinemas
TriNoma
Power Plant Mall
Shangri-La Plaza
For its 12th edition, QCinema shines a spotlight on “The Gaze” as its festival theme.
We celebrate the film medium’s power to convey meanings and messages through the craft of storytelling.
Filmmakers shape their stories through their own unique lens that becomes key to its universal and enduring appeal of cinema.
By offering ways of looking, filmmakers craft their stories filtered through their own distinctive perspectives, offering a plurality of voices.
The gaze, as how its come to be called, can form ways for viewers to be immersed into the film experience.
From the conventional masculine gaze to its counterpart – the feminine gaze, cinema lends itself as a powerful medium that can encompass ideas of politics, gender, race, and other ideologies.
From the competition of new Asian titles to latest gems from world cinema, from genre to arthouse, from debut films to film masters, from shorts to documentaries, this year’s curation embraces the full spectrum for an impactful film experience.
– Ed Lejano, Artistic Director, QCinema International Film Festival
Asian Next Wave
A showcase of some of the most exciting Asian films from this year, from emerging filmmakers at the onset of their career as storytellers.
Viet and Nam
Truong Minh Quy
Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, France, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, USA
QCShorts International
QCShorts International is an expansion of the previous shorts program, matching QCinema’s annual grantees up with the best the region has to offer.
Screen International
Award winning, critically acclaimed films from all over the world. Screen International gives QCinema attendees a chance to catch the most talked about films of the year among cinephile circles.
RainbowQC
RainbowQC is QCinema’s LGBTQIA+ section, offering stories with queer characters and perspectives that highlight the diversity of experiences in an increasingly complex world.
New Horizons
New Horizons is a section for feature film directing debuts and second features, offering up a space for filmmakers that made a splash with their first couple of films by offering new visions of what cinema can be.
Before Midnight
Tales of the fantastic, of the supernatural, and everything else that rises as night falls on humanity.
QCLokal
New work in exhibition from Filipino filmmakers. This includes Shorts Expo, which is a program of exciting new short films that push the boundaries of cinematic storytelling
QCinema Selects
A selection of exciting new films for cinema lovers of all stripes.
Rediscovery
A selection of landmark films from cinema’s vast and colorful history, digitally restored and handpicked by the artistic director of QCinema.
Contemporary Italian Cinema
Co-presented by the Italian Embassy and the Asian Film Festival, Rome, this section presents a survey of current Italian films, featuring commercial hits, festival darlings, and arthouse gems.
Special Screenings
Special, limited engagements with movies that typically fall outside the festival’s purview.
Opening Film
Since 2013, the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight has played host to the Directors’ Factory, a program that surfaces new talents and gives them an opportunity to be showcased on the International scene. Every year, they select eight filmmakers, four from a partner country, and another four from other emerging cinemas from around the world, all of whom have ambitious first or second feature projects. They are paired up, and they produce four short films, which are then premiered at the Directors’ Fortnight.
This year, Directors’ Factory selected the Philippines as its partner country – the first Southeast Asian nation to be chosen for the honor. These films were supported by the Quezon City Film Commision, and the QCinema International Film Festival is proud to premiere these films on local soil on our opening night.
Closing Film
Cloud
クラウド
2024 | Action, Thriller, Drama | 123 mins | R-16
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Country of Production: Japan
Ryosuke Yoshii (Masaki Suda) resists living a conventional life, quitting his factory job the moment a promotion is offered to him. He instead chooses to make a living by reselling items on the Internet. His careless way of doing business earns him the animosity of several of his customers, and soon enough, Ryosuke is made to face violent consequences. Having foreseen many of the dehumanizing psychic horrors of the Internet in Pulse, Kurosawa revisits the subject to tell a story of how online dealings can have very real consequences.
Screening Schedule
Source: https://qcinema.ph/schedule/
