November is a busy time for Filipino moviegoers, and it’s not just because of the new movies hitting local cinemas this month. From November 13 to 22, the QCinema International Film Festival returns with a lineup featuring 81 local and international titles ranging from timeless Filipino classics and masterpieces to recent films that have been making waves on the global festival scene. It’s a true haven for Filipino cinephiles to catch movies that have been on their watchlist or discover new titles.
This year, QCinema will be held at Gateway Cineplex 18, Robinsons Movieworld Galleria, Ayala Malls Cinemas TriNoma, Fisher Mall Cinemas, and SM City Fairview Cinema, with tickets priced at 200 pesos each. The 2026 edition looks to the theme of Genre’teurs as its guiding light, which is a mix of the words genre and auteur, to deliver a festival centered on genre work with the creativity and vision of established and rising filmmakers around the world. There are dozens of feature-length and short films included in the festival’s many programs, some of which we highlight below as ones to have on your 2026 QCinema International Film Festival watchlist.
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Ella Arcangel: Awit ng Pangil at Kuko – The Komik Series Heads to the Big Screen
Philippine animation and local mythology have been having their moment this year, and that continues with one of the opening movies of the 2026 QCinema International Film Festival. An adaptation of the popular comic book series by Julius Villanueva, Mervin Malonzo’s Ella Arcanghel: Awit ng Pangil at Kuko centers on a young mambabarang named Ella, voiced by Bianca Umali, who uses her powers to defend her family and city against evil forces both human and supernatural.
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma – Queer Horror Excellence
Jane Schoenbrun has made a name for herself as one of the most inventive horror directors of the 2020s, such as in the coming-of-age horror flick and allegory to trans identity I Saw the TV Glow. She’s back this year with her third feature film starring Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson that premiered at Cannes to an enthusiastic response and is finally getting a local release courtesy of QCinema.
Part of this year’s RainbowQC program, which is the festival’s LGBTQIA+ section, the sapphic horror movie follows a queer director who is hired to direct a sequel to a slasher movie. She soon becomes obsessed with the idea of casting the actress who played the “final girl” from the original movie in the sequel, leading to a bloody film that explores self-discovery, identity, and sexual desire.
Moonglow – A Crime Thriller From Isabel Sandoval
Filipina director, writer, and actress Isabel Sandoval is showing another side of Manila in Moonglow, her newest movie that she directs and stars in. The neo-noir romantic thriller set in the Philippines in 1979 follows Dahlia, a police aide who helps the poor and displaced by stealing money from her corrupt police boss.
Things take a turn when Dahila’s boss tasks her and his nephew, Charlie, to investigate the theft. Oh, and Charlie is also Dahlia’s former lover. The moody noir thriller made its world premiere in the Big Screen competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in February, and is hitting local cinemas as part of the Before Midnight program, which highlights genre films.
Club Kid – The Cannes Favorite Comes to Manila
After a successful premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, Jordan Firstman’s Club Kid is set to make its anticipated local theatrical debut this month starting November 18. But for those who wish to catch it earlier, the acclaimed comedy drama is included in this year’s QCinema as part of the curated list of QCSelects. The movie follows an outgoing New York party promoter who learns that he has a 10-year-old son, which leads to a surprisingly tender, comedic, sweet, and honest father-son story set in NYC’s queer club scene.
Fatherland – An Acclaimed Father-Daughter Story
This year’s Screen International lineup has some notable heavy-hitters, one of those being Paweł Pawlikowski’s latest movie, Fatherland. Starring Sandra Hüller and Hanns Zischler, this film centers on a daughter and father who embark on a road trip across post-World War 2 Germany in 1949. The black-and-white drama has seen glowing reviews since its premiere at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, where it won Best Director, and was chosen by Poland as its entry for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards.
Fjord – A Moral Drama on Cultural Differences
Palme d’Or winner and potential Oscar contender Fjord is coming to Manila thanks to QCinema’s Screen International program. From Romanian director Cristian Mungiu comes this political family drama starring Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan about a Romanian family living in Norway. When they are faced with a child abuse case against them after their culture clashes with the local community’s values, their lives quickly spiral as their adoptive home begins to look at them differently. Tackling timely themes such as otherness experienced by immigrants and tension caused by cultural differences, the movie has been dazzling critics, and now Filipino viewers get to see what all the hype is about.
Makikiraan Po – Lav Diaz Does It Again
After premiering out of competition during the 2026 Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Premio Brian award, acclaimed Filipino auteur Lav Diaz’s newest film is coming home to the Philippines as part of the Screen International lineup. Featuring a cast that includes Bart Guingona, Ronnie Lazaro, Isabel Sandoval, Yul Servo, Christian Bables and Bong Cabrera, Makikiraan Po is a historical drama set in 1617 during the Spanish colonial period about a Spanish friar’s mestizo son who runs into trouble with local bandits during his trip to transport marble for the construction of a church altar.
You Can See Everything – One of the Year’s Best Movies
From surprise screening to cinematic sensation, Lance Oppenheim and Nathan Fielder’s critically acclaimed documentary You Can See Everything is finally coming to the Philippines on November 18. And ahead of its local release, the movie is scheduled to play during QCinema as part of the Dokyu Days section. The movie follows Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and her partner, Billy Evans, at their home in the lead-up to the start of Holmes’ prison sentence. But as the story progresses, it goes from typical documentary to an enthralling study on truth, reality, lies, and manipulation with twists best left unspoiled.
Look Back – The Tearjerking Manga Goes Live Action
Serving as the festival’s closing film is acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda’s live-action adaptation of the popular manga Look Back by Chainsaw Man creator Tatsuki Fujimoto, which itself got a well-received animated adaptation in 2024. It follows popular student Fujino and social recluse Kyomoto, two young girls who develop an unlikely friendship through their common love of drawing manga, with Kyomoto even idolizing Fujino for the manga she draws for the school’s newspaper.
As they get older, life pulls them in different directions, but their bond remains as their friendship changes forever following a fateful incident. Before it screens in local cinemas on November 25, Filipino viewers can have the chance to catch it early during QCinema.
Featured Image: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures
Frequently Asked Questions
The 2026 QCinema International Film Festival runs from November 13 to 22 and features 81 local and international titles, from Filipino classics to recent films from the global festival scene. It screens at five cinemas, and the 2026 edition is themed Genre’teurs.
The 2026 QCinema International Film Festival is held at Gateway Cineplex 18, Robinsons Movieworld Galleria, Ayala Malls Cinemas TriNoma, Fisher Mall Cinemas, and SM City Fairview Cinema. Tickets are priced at 200 pesos each, and the festival runs from November 13 to 22.
Genre’teurs is the 2026 QCinema International Film Festival’s theme, a mix of the words genre and auteur. It guides a festival centered on genre work, with the creativity and vision of established and rising filmmakers around the world, across its feature-length and short film programs.
Club Kid and You Can See Everything both screen at QCinema ahead of their November 18 local releases, in QCSelects and Dokyu Days. Look Back, the festival’s closing film from Hirokazu Kore-eda, screens before it reaches local cinemas on November 25.
Filipino titles include the opening film Ella Arcangel: Awit ng Pangil at Kuko, Isabel Sandoval’s neo-noir thriller Moonglow in the Before Midnight program, and Lav Diaz’s Makikiraan Po in Screen International. Makikiraan Po premiered out of competition at the 2026 Venice International Film Festival.
