The Persons with Digitabilities International Film Festival was launched by our non-profit organization The LoveLife Project for Health & Environment Inc. in 2021 through a contest grant award from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts with a focus on the narratives of persons with disabilities, persons with lived mental health experience, persons living with HIV, persons with lived tb experience, persons living with non-communicable and chronic diseases, LGBTQAI+, youth and women from low-income communities to tackle the lives and journeys of the marginalized rightsholder groups in the Philippines.

The PWDIFF aims to amplify the voices of these groups and spark conversations and collaborations through the screening of films, digital content, and digital performances. In 2021, we held our festival virtually, through a synchronous screening schedule, with around 3,000 participants throughout the four days of the festival which opened on December 1, coinciding with World AIDS Day, and special programming on December 2, with a focus on Tourism and PWD Inclusion and Accessibility, the celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3, and a whole day programming for Non-Communicable Diseases on December 4.

This 2022, we will launch our PWDIFF2022 virtually and through face-to-face on October to coincide with the World Mental Health Month with special festival echo screenings on December 1 and 3.

The PWDIFF begins in the Philippines with a national call for scholarship applications for our groups mentioned above to open opportunities to learn digital storytelling through our YAEHA Digitabilities Upskilling Workshop Program which will be held from July to August. Some of our curated digital movies and contents are produced during the workshop.

Awards & Prizes

There is no competition at this time, and we encourage even non-profit and advocacy groups and organizations to send in their films and digital content for exhibition in the festival.

Rules & Terms

Since the event is a fund-raising advocacy event for our non-profit as well, we prefer films that tackle themes about marginalized groups like persons with disabilities, persons with lived mental health experience, persons living with chronic diseases, persons living with HIV, persons with tuberculosis experience, LGBTIQ+ and youth from low-income communities.

Qualifying films should have been produced within the four years preceding the festival (only for year 2022) and meet one or all of the following criteria:
- Provides an inspiring voice for social justice and human rights for people with disabilities, persons with lived mental health experience, persons living with HIV, persons with lived tb experience, persons living with non-communicable and chronic diseases, LGBTQAI+, indigenous people, youth and women from low-income communities
- Highlights positive contributions made by people from the above groups
- Preferably does not further promote and combats stigma and defies stereotypes associated with disability, mental health, diseases, HIV and AIDS, gender, social and economic status, poverty issues

Submitted films may be of any length and genre – documentaries, features, and shorts.
More Details:
All entries must be in English and/or have English subtitles. We accept documentaries, features, and shorts.

There is an entry fee (between $20 and $40, depending on when you submit).

If your film is selected to be screened at the 2022 Persons with Digitabilties International Film Festival, you will be required to send the film in our prefered, MP4 format within two weeks of notification.
Entries will be considered by festival organizers, including people from the groups above and advocates.

By applying to the Persons with Digitabilities International Film Festival (the “film festival”), you are deemed to have read and consented to these rules in their entirety.

Your application must comply with the terms of https://filmfreeway.com/ (“FilmFreeway”) and these rules.

These rules, and the terms of FilmFreeway, govern your submission and participation in the film festival in all respects.

In the event of any conflict between these rules and the terms of FilmFreeway, these rules control.

Submissions not in line with these rules will not be considered for selection and will be rejected by the “PWDIFF”, which is under no obligation to inform an applicant of this rejection (though PWDIFF may provide such information at its discretion).

You may withdraw your entry at any time on written request to PWDIFF via FilmFreeway.

1) General terms of participation

i) If you are otherwise eligible, you may submit one video to the film festival for consideration, free of charge, through the online platform on FilmFreeway at https://filmfreeway.com/PWDigitabilitiesFilmFestival, subject to these rules.

ii) The period for submissions is from 01 December 2021 through 30 June 2022.

iii) Only videos created between 1 January 2019 and 30 June 2022 are eligible.

iv) Submissions may be presented by production companies or by individuals 18 years or older. Individuals under 18 years of age may participate with the permission of their parents or legal guardians.