BAKUNAWA FEST is the first fantastic and genre film festival in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia, currently presented by E Unlimited, Sentro Rizal, UP Film Institute, and Negros Museum. It is driven entirely by volunteer filmmakers and artists. The festival takes its name from the Bakunawa, a mythical creature in Philippine folklore known for devouring moons. As a genre-bending celebration, we reclaim the myth, turning the Bakunawa into a symbol of the creative monsters that live inside us.

Rather than following a strict annual calendar, Bakunawa Fest unfolds in “seasons,” shaped as much by our deep commitment as by the reality of our pockets after hard-earned work. Since the pandemic lockdowns, the festival embraced a hybrid form. With little press coverage and minimal recognition from mainstream media, we remain proud to be among the very first film festivals in the world to stage a full edition during the first year of the pandemic.

During its first three years in Bacolod City, Bakunawa Fest (then called Bakunawa Young Cinema) opened with a film camp, a series of workshops designed for first-time young filmmakers. These workshops culminated in a competition where participants premiered their very first genre films, competing for our handmade Bakunawa toy trophy. By the third edition, the festival began welcoming films beyond the camp, celebrating each year’s wave of genre cinema through both online and in-person screenings, with competitive and curated sections. From the seventh edition onward, Bakunawa Fest closed its season with a broadcast on Primetime Philippine Cable TV, capped by a pre-recorded Awards Show aired on SolarFlix TV, bringing our films, artists, and stories to millions of Filipino households.

Bakunawa was founded on a simple principle: new visions, new voices. That principle continues to guide us. We champion unknown yet promising filmmakers, artists, and musicians who may not have access to costly workshops or the visibility to enter larger festivals. At Bakunawa, your film is your face value. No need for big names or prestigious pedigrees: if we connect with your work, whether you’re a star or a newbie, we will program it.

Most of Bakunawa’s film camps and screenings are outreach-driven, built with film education in mind, which is why they are almost always free. Participants are supported through scholarships funded by the festival and its partners, and the events are often hosted by different cities and municipalities across the Philippines (1st-3rd, Bacolod City; 4th, San Carlos City; 5th, Bayawan City; 6th, back to Bacolod; 7th-8th, Online; 9th, Manila and Bacolod; 10th, Manila; 11th in Manila, Bacolod, Alaminos, QC and now, the 12th edition, in Bacolod City and Iloilo Cit. In this way, Bakunawa remains a festival and a shared journey carried by communities, for communities.

[ Please note that, since we are an artist and volunteer-ran filmfest, we can't fund filmmakers to come physically and we don't pay screening fees. ]

We are a fantastic film fest. Our festival is interested in: Horror or Thriller Films / Sci-Fi, Fantasy or Adventure / Fantastic-themed Experimental Films, New Media, Expanded Cinema / Genre-Bending Films / Fantastic-themed Music Videos / Fantastic-themed Documentaries / Contemporary Art / Photography.

Awards & Prizes

Bakunawa Fest determines the films for competition and outside of the competition sections. The appointed Board of Jury will award films in competition and is only required to award GRAND BAKUNAWA FOR BEST SHORT FILM and JURY PRIZE. The Jury however decides if they want to award films on specific categories. International winners get a Digital Certificate and Digital Kit while local winners get a printed Certificate and the Bakunawa trophies.

Film Critics invited by our festival also hand out independent awards & citations which were either deliberated or selected by them. Bakunawa team of organizers don't participate in these processes as we want to maintain the critics' independence. The festival hands out Digital Certificates to those cited by the film critics.

BAKUNAWA FEST XI JURIED WINNERS
►Grand Bakunawa for Best Short Film: Mu, Javier Méndez Cañada, Spain, 2025
►Grand Jury Prize: La identitat del Vent (Uncertainty Principle), André Brugnara Petry, Spain, 2025
►Best Animated Films: She and Her Good Vibrations, Olivia Griselda, Sarah Cheok, Singapore, 2023 / Eha Vari (The Shadow of Dawn), Olga Stalev, Estonia, 2024
►Best Horror Film: Imago, Rafa Dengrá Oliver, Spain, 2024
►Best Cinematography: Canto, Guilherme Daniel, Portugal, 2024
►Jury Citation for Performance: Georgia Eyers, An Artist's Curse, Australia, 2024
►Jury Citation for Vision of the Future: Parking Area, Toru Masuyama, Japan, 2022

* COMPLETE Citations at
https://www.bakunawafest.com/awardwinners-11thedition

BAKUNAWA FEST 12 JURIED WINNERS
►Grand Bakunawa for Best Short Film: Missing Parts (Lélek a Mélyben) by Tamás Rolfesz (2025) Hungary
►Grand Jury Prize: Portrait by Daniel Tan Wen Long (2025) Singapore
►Best Horror Film: The Devil Room (La habitación del macho cabrio) by Duban Pinzón (2025) Colombia
►Jury Citation for Mythic Storytelling: River People by Peter Toyat (2025) Malaysia
►Jury Citation for Ensemble Performance: FOMO/Armageddon by Michael Niels Køppen Kunov (2023) Denmark (Cast: Justin Geertsen; Sandra Halle, Stine Schrøder Jensen, Isabella Møller Hansen, Edwin Back, Amanda Emilie Christensen, Lauge Lindegård Weber)
► Jury Special Mention: Gökotta by Kay Oceans (2025) Spain

* COMPLETE Citations at
https://www.bakunawafest.com/awardwinners-12thedition

Rules & Terms

Rules & Regulations for BAKUNAWA FEST XI. Please READ them before submitting your film.

OUR PROGRAMMING PRINCIPLE - A NOTE ON FILM SUBMISSIONS
Our programmers pride themselves on watching all submitted films with an annual 100% watching average. We don't base our decisions on which festivals your film has been accepted. We decide on the merit of your film and not on the popularity of the filmmakers and its actors. Last year (10th edition), all 100% of our competition shorts came from submissions via FilmFreeway, Festhome and Bakunawa Forms. Bakunawa has two festival advisers and curators who recommend films from around the world - especially, Asia - but these recommendations still has to pass through our chief programmer and are mostly programmed out of competition. So just submit and don't email us all your laurels and in your diva tone. While we are happy of your achievements (because we're filmmakers too and we love fantastic film fests!), we still look at each film at "face value" - we watch them (usually more than twice) and decide.

[1.] We accept horror, fantasy, sci-fi, thriller and all kinds of genre films. WE ARE A FANTASTIC FESTIVAL AND WE FAVOR GENRE FILMS. Please check our categories for descriptions. Films released from 2023-2025 are accepted. Films ealrier than 2022, please submit under REWIND section.

[2] ENGLISH SUBTITLES REQUIRED PLEASE.

[3.] We want films from the young and the young at heart. By young, we mean fresh ideas and concepts; new ways of telling stories; unique approaches to issues; or innovative in many ways. Like any festival, this is a subjective process. We only limit two submissions per filmmaker. If you submit more than this, we shall only choose which one/s we like and if we want all, we will only choose one or two. Just as a submission guide: unless we really love both films, we usually only choose one.

[4.] For student submissions, we will REQUIRE you to send us an updated ID from your school or university.

[5.] All works selected will be screened or exhibited in a semi-hybrid format - ONLINE and IN-PERSON screenings. The programmers will select which goes online and in-person.

[6.] Your films must be available for download up until December 1, 2025 for the festival and must be allowed to be played online up until December 15 2023 (Bakunawa Fest runs for a season).

[7.] In the past editions, we screen your films to our young film camp participants which we open to the public for free and in very limited engagements. Since the pandemic started, we have screened films online (available for the festival run) through our VOD Channel (with geoblocking provisions). Your films must be available for download and must be allowed to be played for online screenings during the festival season.

[8.] For Filipino films, we will only accept films created from Jan. 1, 2023 to present. IMPORTANT: Your film must not have been screened in more than one Filipino film festival to be accepted for competition. If you want to compete, we REQUIRE a PHILIPPINE PREMIERE (for competition films, only 15 minutes and under please). Those that are not premieres may be programmed under non-competition sections.

[9] Invited films (by our programmers and advisers) do not have these restrictions. They will still have to go through the selection committee and are usually programmed outside competition. All our competition films last edition were 100% from submissions.

[10.] We do not pay for screening fees and we cannot fund your travel and accommodations. Please DON'T submit to us if you require fees and you want free travel and accommodation.

[11.] By entering your work in the festival, you are giving the festival and its organizers the right to screen your film, photographs and trailers at all our film camp, online festival sites and all festival venues and to print all film-related photos for festival promotions. Once selected, you cannot anymore withdraw your film from the festival. Our festival runs in months in in different cities in the Philippines so by entering your work, you allow the festival to screen your works in our outreach tours.

[12.] By clicking SUBMIT, filmmakers certify that they possess all rights pertaining to their submitted films and exempt the festival organizers from third party claims. In case of a group work, a single representative must be named for purposes of correspondences.

[13.] By clicking SUBMIT, you hereby acknowledge to abide by the rules and regulations of this festival. We make sure that our staff and volunteers are not harrassed by filmmakers so we shall observe the behavior of filmmakers. We shall implement a mutual respect between filmmakers and our festival when communicating all througout the festival season. We shall decide appropriately and may remove your film from selection list if you treat our volunteers and festival staff with disrespect. Our festival will not tolerate hate speech nor filmmakers who discriminate.

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CHECKLIST OF WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU (If this is NOT complete, you leave us no choice but to disqualify you):
[1] Submission Via THIS FORM
[2] Your film must be downloadable if requested
[3] Trailer is REQUIRED and must be downloadable
[4] Poster, logline and synopsis are required.
[5] Photo of Director and bio are required
[6] Film Stills are required

THE FESTIVAL'S COMMITMENT WHEN YOUR FILM GETS SELECTED:
[1] Your film in our Festival Curated Programs and Website
[2] Your Digital Certificate of Selection from the Festival
[3] Digital Poster of the Festival
[4] Festival Laurels
[5] Portions of your film in our Omnibus Trailers
[6] Our commitment and assurance that your film is being handled by a handful of persons only so it doesn't get distributed nor shown to third parties and/or other individuals.

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