QCinema Project Market Unveils 20 Selected Projects Across PH and SEA

Quezon City, Philippines— The QCinema Project Market (QPM), the industry arm of QCinema International Film Festival, has unveiled the 20 projects selected for its third edition, chosen from a record 71 submissions across Southeast Asia.

This year’s slate spans 12 projects from the Philippines and 8 from across the region, showcasing bold voices, distinctive genres, and globally resonant stories.

Several QPM projects are already making waves internationally. The Fox King from Malaysian auteur Woo Ming Jin is set to world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this month, highlighting the market’s role as an incubator for globally competitive works.

“QPM is not just a platform—it’s a bridge,” says QCinema Industry head Liza Diño. “By connecting Southeast Asian stories to the wider world, we are giving filmmakers the visibility and access they need to secure funding, partners, and distribution.”

In just three editions, QPM has built an impressive track record. Alumni include Dương Diệu Linh’s Don’t Cry, Butterfly, winner of the Grand Prize at Venice Critics’ Week, and Loeloe Hendra Komara’s Tale of the Land, which earned the FIPRESCI Prize at Busan.

The QCinema Industry would like to extend its congratulations to each of the participating projects and the team behind their development.

The final list of participating projects from the Philippines is as follows:

“Luzonensis and Floresiensis” 

• Directed by Glenn Barit
• Produced by Kristine De Leon
• Logline: Two prehistoric hominids from the Philippines and Indonesia meet as migrant workers in the land of colonizers, struggling to secure a space and a home amidst a collapsing real estate market.

“Ozzy and Onie”

• Directed by Jaime Pacena II
• Produced by Dan Villegas and Angel Tomas
• Logline: In 1996 Manila, two star-crossed lovers torn between faith, family, and a collapsing system finds love and solace in a place that listens, shelters, and ultimately traps them.

“Sentinel”

• Directed by Carl Joseph E. Papa
• Produced by Geo Lomuntad
• Logline: Five interconnected lives of a transferee, his classmate, the editor-in-chief, an upperclassman, and the principal grapple with their own fears and loyalties as a student newspaper article threatens to dismantle a school’s bedrock of dark secrets.

“KOMIXXX”

• Directed by Jopy Arnaldo
• Produced by KC Contrevida
• Logline: Two Filipinos on break from their Japanese film - an aspiring director wondering if he's good enough and "sexy" actress who who wants to star in "serious" films - unexpectedly come together to escape reality and make an erotic comic together.

“The Void is Immense in Idle Hours”

• Directed by Sam Manacsa
• Produced by Chad Cabigon and Carlo Francisco Manatad
• Logline: When 19-year-old Rosemary becomes the only witness to the disappearance of a young boy, she is drawn into the search by the child’s desperate mother, Agnes. Their time together leads them to confront their tragic truths and forgotten dreams.

“What's Left Of Us”

•  Directed by Tyrone Acierto
• Produced by Wilfredo Manalang
• Logline: In a collapsed world consumed by a dementia-like plague, a couple and their chronically ill daughter fight to stay sane, holding on to pain, memory, and love as they search for what remains of their humanity.

“Daddy Cool”

• Directed by Dominic Bekaert
• Produced by Clémentine Comoy and Sarge Lacuesta
• Logline: During the turbulent times of martial law, in the decadence of Manila’s disco era, a career woman finds herself in a tangle of love and jealousy with her female boss and their shared gigolo.

“Dear Wormwood”

• Directed by Dodo Dayao
• Produced by Patti Lapus
• Logline: The quiet lives of four women of faith living up in the mountains are disrupted and threatened by the arrival of a time travelling ghost who is bringing the world to an end.

“Amateur”

• Directed by Dan Villegas
• Produced by Antoinette Jadaone
• Logline: A rising basketball star faces ruin when the price of fixing games pulls him into the brutal core of Manila's betting empire.

“Jaguar”

• Directed by Dean Colin Marcial
• Produced by Braden Friedman and Bam Manlongat
• Logline: A lonely security guard working the night shift becomes the sole witness to a murder in his building.

“There Is, There Isn’t” (“Meron, Wala”)

• Directed by Arjanmar H. Rebeta
• Produced by Khaye Medina
• Logline: In a town on the brink of chaos, where the corrupt sport of cockfighting intertwines with political power, an aging gaffer embarks on a desperate search for his missing son. As the eruption of Taal Volcano looms, Migo uncovers a dark web of deceit, violence, and manipulation, forcing him to confront his complicity and the brutal truth he’s been avoiding.

“JOLLYWOOD “

• Directed by Khavn De La Cruz
• Produced by Achinette Villamor
• Logline: A family fights demolition in Jollywood aka Brgy. 222, where every resident believes the answer to poverty are Tiktok and an American boyfriend. But Rony, a 10-year-old gay and resourceful boy, dreams of a better life.

The final list of participating projects from Southeast Asia is as follows:

“Penumbra” -  SINGAPORE

• Directed by Russell Morton
• Produced by Sophia Sim and Jeremy Chua
• Logline: A man on the run washes up on a floating fish farm with no means of escape. He is discovered by its mysterious occupants - an old man and his dog.  Caught between land and sea, freedom and imprisonment, dreams and monsters, he must now confront the sins of his past.

“Ray of Light” - THAILAND 

• Directed by Nontawat Numbenchapol
• Produced by Awat Ratanapintha
• Logline: On a present-day film set styled after the surreal glamour of the 1960s and divided by class, a puppet-like star actress and an unseen lighting technician form a brief, forbidden bond. When tragedy strikes, they risk everything to bring the system crashing down.

“Romdoul, the evening fragrance” (រំដួល) - CAMBODIA 

• Directed by Lomorpich Rithy
• Produced by Laura Tevary Mam
• Logline: Told through the intertwined lives of three generations of Cambodian women, in a country still haunted by war and silence, a young journalist journeys to the border of conflict and memory—only to confront the mother who left her behind, and the grandmother who never could.

“Strange Root” (“Keinginan”) - SINGAPORE 

• Directed by Lam Li Shuen and Mark Chua
• Produced by Tan Bee Thiam, Looi Wan Ping, Meiske Taurisia, Roshanak Behesht Nedjad, and Anouk Sluizer
• Logline: In 11th century Singapore, a yam-born demigod – worshipped and fed on by the islanders – is cast aside when a shipwrecked beast reawakens their lost desires. As obsession spreads and his place fades, he descends into madness, jealousy, and a haunting union with the beast.

“The Willing” (“Rela”) - MALAYSIA 

• Directed by Joon Goh
• Produced by Zarul Albakri
• Logline: In the underbelly of Kuala Lumpur, an Indonesian migrant teen forced into underground fights and a schoolgirl trapped by her volatile mother find sanctuary in each other. Fuelled by karaoke fever-dreams and the power of pop music, their fragile bond sparks a desperate bid for freedom.

“Ghost of the Currents” (“ผีเงือก [Phee-Nguek]”) - THAILAND

• Directed by Patiparn Boontarig
• Produced by Napakarn Boontarig
• Logline: After a devastating flood, a man returns to his Mekong riverside village, where the villagers blame a vengeful “River Ghost” for the disaster, but when he encounters the spirit of his lost lover, he learns that the true force haunting the river is something far greater.

“The River Knows Our Names” (“Có Dòng Sông Biết”) - VIETNAM 

• Directed by Mai Huyền Chi
• Produced by Thy Trang
• Logline: On the undocumented floating homes of the Mekong, a little girl's birthday wish tests how far love can reach when you don't officially exist.

“When the world is paused” (“ဆုံမှတ်”) - MYANMAR 

• Directed by Han Thit Htoo Aung
• Produced by Pyae Zaw Phyo
• Logline: In 2019, Than Sin falls into a coma before confessing his feelings to Nyein; when he wakes in 2025, he must find her while she struggles with mysterious dreams that could save their world.

QPM continues its mission of providing a platform for Filipino and Southeast Asian filmmakers to connect with leading industry professionals, secure funding for their projects, and nourish their skills in networking and pitching. 

The market also forms part of Quezon City’s larger cultural diplomacy push, reinforcing its status as the film capital of the Philippines and strengthening its bid to become a UNESCO Creative City of Film.

For more information on QCinema Project Market 2025, please contact [email protected]