The UP Film Circle, in cooperation of UPLB Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts, will hold the CineElbi 2026: Hit Wave which is set to screen from April 28 to 30, 2026 at the NCAS Auditorium at the CAS Annex 1, University of the Philippines – Los Banos campus. The theme for the year Hit Wave, a word play that engages both to actual rising temperature, similarly, referring to films that deal with waves in its abstractions from motions in bodies of water, creeping silence of injustice, to the crashes between contradictions.
This year’s CineElbi will showcase films from the Cinemalaya 2025 line up. Noni Abao’s “Bloom Where You’re Planted” opens the festival. Winner of the Best Picture at last year’s Cinemalaya, the documentary features the plight of peasant-rights advocates and the challenges they faced amidst intensifying attacks from state actors.
The festival will also feature the legal drama “Paglilitis” directed by Cheska Marfori, the mystery-laden slow-burner “Raging” by Ryan Machado, Renei Dimla’s social satire, “Republic of Pipolipinas”, and “Padamlagan” by Jenn Romano.
The festival is open to the public with 150 pesos admission rate. A discounted rate of 120 pesos are given for Senior Citizens, Students, and PWDs. CineElbi also offers a festival pass for 500 pesos.
For more information, check out CineElbi on Facebook and UP Film Circle on Facebook, Instagram, and on X (formerly Twitter).
