The Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival is back for its third year, giving filmmakers more room to tell their stories without boundaries. For its 2026 edition, the festival has officially lifted restrictions on theme, topic, and genre—marking a major shift from the guidelines of previous years.
Earlier editions highlighted wholesome and inspirational narratives under the banner “mga kwentong panalo ng buhay” (winning stories of life). While this framework brought many heartwarming entries, it also meant that certain genres were left out of the competition.
This time, the festival invites submissions across a much wider range, including categories not typically seen at CinePanalo such as horror, suspense, crime, and fantasy. The only requirement is that each pitch demonstrates strong potential and creativity.
With the removal of limitations, CinePanalo 2026 aims to showcase an even more diverse slate of stories, empowering both new and established filmmakers to explore bold, original ideas. This new direction underscores the festival’s commitment to support Filipino talent by embracing varied genres and perspectives.
Puregold senior marketing manager and festival chair Ivy Hayagan-Piedad spoke on the decision to change the mechanics for this year’s festival. “Sa unang dalawang taon ng CinePanalo, nakita namin kung gaano kalalim ang pagmamahal at gaano kauhaw ang ating Filipino filmmakers na magkwento ng ibang pananaw. This year, we’re opening the festival to all genres and themes in order to showcase stories that are reflective of that diverse voice and creativity,” says Hayagan-Piedad.
On top of the unprecedented creative opportunity, this year’s Puregold CinePanalo also goes the extra mile with the financial grants on offer. Seven full-length film directors will receive Php5 million each, the largest production grant in Philippine film festival history, while twenty student filmmakers will receive P200,000 each.
Interested participants may now submit their applications online.
Full-length filmmakers may download https://tinyurl.com/PCPFFFullApp for contest mechanics and application forms. Meanwhile, here’s the link for the student short category: https://tinyurl.com/PCPFFShortsApp.
Applications for the full-length category close on 11:59 PM, September 10, 2025. Student short applications will close on 11:59 PM, November 25, 2025.
The directors selected to participate in the upcoming festival will have their films screened at Gateway Cineplex 18 from August 7-18, 2026.
For further inquiries, potential applicants may email thesecretariat@cinepanalo.com or message its official Facebook page @puregoldcinepanalo.
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