The recent 2025 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival awards night held at the Red Carpet Cinema of Shangri-La Mall in Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City was an evening of championing regional filmmaking in the country.
It validated the intentions of Visayan filmmaker Daniel de la Cruz of displaying, ventilating and asserting his voice as an artist in pursuits of truth, justice and honesty in the presentation of his ideas and feelings about a case of a human turning into a tilapia as a metaphor of change and transformation for the welfare of his fellowmen.
It gave the audience a clear view of what a Visayan piece of art is at this juncture of our collective history.
De la Cruz's "Hasang" was chosen as the recipient of the NETPAC (Network in the Promotion of Asian Cinema) for “its tender, poetic work that blurs the line between myth and memory, and between the real and the spiritual with remarkable restraint. The film stands out for its delicate storytelling, stunning visual simplicity, and deep spiritual resonance.”
It was amazing to witness a huge delegation of Visayan filmmakers and cineastes around the hall, particularly from Iloilo and its neighboring places, cheering and encouraging provincial filmmaking to succeed and thrive in show business even in imperial Manila.
These filmmakers and cinephiles from the Visayas were one in saying that they should also be noticed, recognized and appreciated by means of awards because they also matter.
It was a testament of the Visayan commitment to the arts, not only of filmmaking but all related areas of arts and letters
In the gallery, these Visayan artists were confident about their talents in storytelling.
Another regional filmmaker which excelled in the recently concluded Cinemalaya 21 was short film "Figat," a foray into the Kalinga culture in the Cordilleras.
"Figat" won for its outstanding screenplay for “its sheer authenticity, lyrical storytelling, and cultural depth, for its powerful affirmation of indigenous identity amid modern distractions, and for its heartfelt portrayal of a young Kalinga girl preserving her heritage through music.”.
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