‘Open Endings,’ Oscar contenders highlight QCinema 2025
By Kristofer Purnell – Philstar.com
Published October 21, 2025
MANILA, Philippines — The 13th edition of the QCinema International Film Festival (QCIFF) will be dominated by entries that have gone around the festival circuit, some of them vying for Oscars glory next year.
This year’s QCinema will run from November 14 to 23 in six Quezon City mall theaters: Gateway, Ayala Malls Trinoma, Ayala Malls Cloverleaf, Fisher Mall and Robinsons Galleria.
At the media conference for the festival’s launch last October 21, Quezon City mayor Joy Belmonte noted that QCinema was the Grand Winner and Hall of Fame awardee in the Best Event Hosting (International Event, Highly Urbanized City) Category of the recent Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines Pearl Awards.
Belmonte embraced the city’s role and standing as a “film city,” which happens to be 2025 editions’ theme, as she honored past film studios Sampaguita and LVM as well as National Artists Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal and Fernando Poe Jr.
The mayor hoped Quezon City would achieve its designation as a UNESCO Creative City of Film, sharing her personal goal to elevate people’s access to film and see it treated as the quality art form it is.
She further stressed that QCinema is built from her constituents’ tax money and is making sure that taxpayers get to enjoy where their money goes.
“The future of cinema is where it started, in the theater,” the festival’s artistic director Ed Lejano quoted Oscar-winning filmmaker Sean Baker.
Lejano shared that, adjusting to public demand, all tickets at the festival would only cost P250. He and Belmonte added that each first screening daily at all venues (except at Gateway) would be free of charge, and senior card benefits still apply.
Related: Mylene Dizon, Rochelle Pangilinan among Cinemalaya 2025 winners
Line-up
This year’s opening film is “Couture” by Alice Winocour, a film within film starring Angelina Jolie as an American filmmaker arriving in Paris for Fashion Week.
Sapphic film “Open Endings” starring Janella Salvador, Klea Pineda, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, and Leanne Mamonong — fresh off its Cinemalaya 2025 run — will compete in the Asian Next Wave section.
It will go up against “Diamonds in the Sand” starring Charlie Dizon, Thailand’s entry to next year’s Academy Awards “A Useful Ghost,” and six other films all directed by Asian filmmakers, and the section winner will serve as the closing film.
Eight films will compete in the highly-anticipated RainbowQC Competition, consisting of queer perspectives, all but one making their Southeast Asian Premiere.
“The Little Sister” and “Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingoes” (Chile’s own entry to Oscars) won awards at the most recent Cannes Film Festival while “On the Road” won the Venice Horizons Award at the Venice International Film Festival.
Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut “The Chronology of Water” highlights the New Horizons competition for debut and sophomore features.
More than 20 titles make up the QCShorts International competition lineup, including six that received the QCShorts 2025 grant earlier this year: “Hoy, Hoy, Ingat!,” “Ours Was A Timeless Night Burning,” “RUNO!,” “Si Kara: Ang Babaye Nga Nag Daba-Daba,” Surface Tension,” and “Yelo.”
Filipino short films to look out for are Arvin Belarmino and Kyla Danelle Romero’s “Agapito,” which premiered at Cannes and JT Trinidad’s “Honey, My Love, So Sweet,” which premiered at Locarno.
The Screen International section features several films eyeing Academy Award nominations like Chloe Zhao’s “Hamnet” and Oliver Hermanus’ “The History of Sound,” both of them starring Paul Mescal.
Spain’s Oscar entry and Cannes Jury Prize winner “Sirat” by Oliver Laxe and Canada’s Oscar entry “The Things You Kill” by Alireza Kahatami will screen in this section dedicated to fresh festival favorites.
Also in this section are Kelly Reichardt’s “The Mastermind,” Ali Asgari’s “Divine Comedy,” Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han animated feature “Little Amélie,” and Cannes Un Certain Regard Best Director winner “Once Upon a Time in Gaza.
Classic films “Almost Famous” by Cameron Crowe, “Showgirls” by Paul Verhoeven, and “Linda Linda Linda” by Nobuhiro Yamashita make up the Rediscovery section while Emilie Blichfeldt’s “Ugly Stepsister,” Bryn Chainey’s “Rabbit Trap,” and Morgan Knibbe’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights” shot in the Philippines are in the supernatural-inspired Before Midnight portion.
Homegrown films in the QCSelects section include Arjanmar Rebeta and Jeffrey Jeturian’s “Lakambini: Gregoria de Jesus” starring Lovie Poe, Pedring Lopez’s first English-language film “Shadow Transit,” and the first two episodes of Erik Matti’s “Call My Manager” for HBO Max.
Two Venice winners, “Below the Clouds” and “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” appear in the first-ever Dokyu Days section while a spotlight on German actress Sandra Hüller will see her films like “The Zone of Interest,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” and “Toni Erdmann” screen in a special exhibition.