Philippines’ SineMaya Fest Wraps Fourth Edition; Hands Awards To ‘Alab’ & ‘Light By The Sea’

The Philippines’ SineMaya Community Film Festival, a new grassroots incubator for first-time filmmakers from rural and working-class communities, has wrapped its fourth edition which drew 2,000 attendees. Awards were handed out to two short films: Christian Laurence Jegillos’s Alab and Dang Thai Hanh’s Light By The Sea.
 
The initiative is funded by micro financing platform CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI).
 
Founded in 2022, SineMaya began as a small post-pandemic storytelling initiative within CARD’s nationwide microfinance network. It has since evolved into a development ecosystem that identifies, finances and mentors storytellers who might otherwise never enter the film industry.
 
The festival screenings took place in Manila, Iloilo and Davao, with additional community screenings scheduled in San Pablo, Laguna on December 9 and December 15. The 2025 SineMaya Awards Ceremony was held on December 15, followed by a screening and Q&A with the filmmakers of the two winning films.
 
This year, 18 short films were selected – 11 in the Legacy Lens category, focusing on traditional storytelling and production techniques, and seven in the AI-lamat section, exploring how AI can be used while keeping the perspective of the storyteller at the centre. All the entries were responding to the theme ‘Pamanaon: Stewards of the Future’.
 
Alab is the story of a young girl, dreaming of becoming a teacher despite her family’s financial difficulties, who encounters the human form of a volcano marked by environmental neglect and learns about our responsibility to protect the earth.

Light By The Sea is the story of a woman struggling to care for her children and elderly mother after losing her husband at sea, who receives help from her community so her son can stay in school. Tran Quyn Mai wrote the script.
 
SineMaya sources its stories directly from CARD MRI’s grassroots network – farmers’ children, teachers, fishers, microentrepreneurs and first-time storytellers rooted in the country’s rural and peri-urban communities.
 
Selected projects receive full financing and hands-on mentorship from CARD MRI’s media arm, Bente Productions, the company that made its international debut this year at Busan’s Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM).
 
“Our goal is to build a sustainable, community-to-screen pipeline that reflects the full spectrum of the Filipino experience,” said Bente Productions president Marilyn Manila.
 
“These films are not created inside an industry bubble – they are shaped by the real lives of the communities CARD MRI has served for decades. SineMaya is becoming a space where first-time filmmakers can develop their voice and where audiences can discover new perspectives.”
 
In its first four years, SineMaya has produced more than 30 short films, several of which are now being developed into longer-form projects with Bente Productions and potential international partners.
 
Beginning in early 2026, SineMaya films will embark on a nationwide screening programme aligned with CARD’s community programmes – with screenings taking place in local sports facilities, barangay halls, medical missions and neighbourhood gatherings.

CARD says its goal is to “broaden access, deepen engagement and continue identifying new storytellers beyond traditional film-school pathways”.
 
CARD also explained that it has similar principles in the community-driven model it uses for microfinance: “access, mentorship, local empowerment and long-term sustainability – now brought into the creative economy.”