The Philippine film industry premiered the first-ever Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival. After months of preparation and hard work from organizers and participating filmmakers, the festival will now be open to the public. The official screenings were held 15 March at the Gateway Cinemas.

The upcoming festival is a testament to retail company Puregold’s unwavering commitment to nurturing promising young Pinoy talents. Through this platform, six professional directors were awarded P2.5 million in grants to bring their cinematic visions to life, while 25 student directors were each granted P100,000 to fuel their creative endeavors.

According to Ivy Hayagan-Pieded, Puregold’s senior marketing manager and Puregold CinePanalo Festival Chair, “Puregold has always believed in championing ‘mga kwentong panalo ng buhay.’ That’s why we wanted to offer our local filmmakers, especially the young ones, the chance to share their inspiring stories at the Puregold CinePanalo.”

Film fans and industry experts are already looking forward to several announced projects. Many eyes are on the six feature films included in the lineup: Sigrid Bernardo’s Pushcart Tales, Raynier Brizuela’s Boys at the Back, Joel Ferrer’s Road to Happy, Carlo Obispo’s A Lab Story, Kurt Soberano’s Under a Piaya Moon and Eugene Torres’ One Day League: Dead Mother, Dead All.

Short films from students all over the country will also be included in the short film category. The student filmmakers represent universities such as the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, UP Diliman, UP Visayas, Bicol University, Ateneo de Davao University, Mapua University, De La Salle University and the University of Santo Tomas.

All the projects have recently completed their post-production, ensuring they’re of the best quality for public viewing. This includes complimentary color grading from Optima Digital.

The festival is also supported by its esteemed partners, the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board and the Movie Workers Welfare Foundation.

All films are being screened at the Gateway Cineplex 18 until 17 March. Tickets are available for P300. PWDs, senior citizens and students can avail of a discounted rate of P240 per film, and festival passes that cover all films can be purchased for P2,000.