CinemaBravo

Supermarket chain Puregold is amplifying its support for CinePanalo Film Festival by offering the highest production grants for full-length films in the Philippines.

On its second edition this 2025, Puregold CinePanalo will award a staggering P3,000,000 full-length film production grant to each of seven selected professional and amateur directors. Additionally, 25 promising student filmmakers will each receive a P150,000 short film production grant.

Applications are now open for those aspiring to join the upcoming festival lineup. The submission deadline for full-length film directors is July 15, 2024, while student directors in the short film category must submit their applications by August 15, 2024.

“After a highly successful and celebrated inaugural run in March, Puregold is proud to have established its presence in the Philippine film industry,” says Puregold President Vincent Co. “We aim to continue this for the benefit of Filipino students and filmmakers. This year, we challenge more aspiring filmmakers to push boundaries, tackle new themes and experimental approaches while highlighting Filipino heritage and values.”

Puregold CinePanalo features two categories: short films for students and campus-based filmmakers, and full-length films for amateur and professional directors. Unlike the previous festival, this year Puregold CinePanalo requires applicants to submit complete screenplays for their entries. This allows the Selection Committee to identify the most compelling and well-developed stories that align with the festival’s theme. Applications can be submitted at https://forms.gle/wNUUQ62okYcyW5r37.

All entries must be uplifting stories centered around the theme “Mga Kwentong Panalo ng Buhay.”

Puregold senior marketing manager and festival director Ivy Hayagan-Piedad emphasized the importance of this theme. “We seek fresh perspectives in storytelling. Puregold CinePanalo aims to be a platform for local artists to take risks and be bold in their craft. Our goal is to bring more outstanding Filipino films to the national—and even global—stage,” she said.

Student shorts are limited to a maximum runtime of 20 minutes, while full-length films must have a minimum length of 90 minutes. All winning entries will be showcased during the festival, which runs from March 14-25, 2025, at Gateway Cinemas. Additionally, all films in the festival lineup will be eligible for awards at the Puregold CinePanalo Awards Night, scheduled for March 19, 2025.

The inaugural Puregold CinePanalo featured full-length films from directors such as Kurt Soberano, Sigrid Bernardo, Joel Ferrer, and others. Student shorts were produced by young filmmakers from UP Diliman, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, University of Santo Tomas, and other schools nationwide.

For further inquiries about Puregold CinePanalo, potential applicants can email thesecretariat@cinepanalo.com.