Puregold’s CinePanalo Film Festival is witnessing an influx of participants aspiring to become the next celebrated Filipino filmmaker.

With the call for entries closing on October 27, many young filmmakers have been racing to get their entries in and show the world how they can inspire others through film. Puregold says it has already received voluminous entries, and looks forward to receiving more with the deadline swiftly approaching.

Each entry submitted to the Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival must be wholesome, inspiring, and family-oriented, revolving around the theme “Mga Kwentong Panalo ng Buhay.” The theme echoes Puregold’s commitment to bringing out and celebrating the small wins in everyday Filipino life.

The Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival is currently accepting submissions for both short and full-length films from students and campus filmmakers, and amateur and professional filmmakers, respectively. Selected individuals will be awarded financial grants to make their visions come to life, with five amateur or professional directors earning a P2,500,000 grant each for the full-length category, and 25 campus-based directors earning a P100,000 grant each for the short film category. Selected full-length entries will also get free color grading from the festival’s official color grading partner, Optima Digital.

“Puregold hopes to ignite the Filipino youth’s passion for creativity. Seeing all these enthusuiastic young filmmakers submitting their entries and chasing their dreams is a Panalo Story in itself,” says Puregold Senior Manager for Marketing, Ivy Hayagan-Piedad. “We are excited to read through and deliberate on all the entries as we bring the Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival to life.” 

All interested filmmakers have only until the 27th of October to submit their story concepts. Participants in both categories must attach a duly accomplished entry form, a synopsis not longer than 300 words, a detailed sequence treatment, a resume of the director with links to sample works (if any), and a digital copy of the director’s profile photo. All these documents must then be emailed to thesecretariat@cinepanalo.com to receive the materials necessary to apply for the grant.

Once chosen, Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival participants are required to submit their fully produced film on or before March 1, 2024. All final submissions in the short film category must have a minimum runtime of 20 minutes and a maximum runtime of 30 minutes. All feature film submissions must be at least 90 minutes long. Each entry will be screened during the Festival, which is set to take place from March 8-10, 2024 at the Gateway Cinemas in Cubao, Quezon City.

Short film entries will also be given the privilege of access to Puregold’s wide social media audience, with each entry being uploaded to Puregold Channel on YouTube. The channel is host to Puregold’s successful digital series that include “GV Boys,” “Ang Babae sa Likod ng Face Mask,” “52 Weeks,” and “Ang Lalaki sa Likod ng Profile”.