The Philippines’ rich cultural diversity increasingly proves advantageous for the development of the nation’s film industry. Our ancient archive of written and oral stories has become a wellspring from which filmmakers draw tales and accounts that they can translate into cinema. These stories, told by various voices and experienced first-hand by other sensibilities definitely excite, if not satisfy, the cinema audience’s hunger for something fresh.

Ngilngig Asian Fantastic Film Festival Davao is an annual showcase of films that explores the myriad meanings of the “ngilngig”—a common Bisaya expression for something that is “kuyaw” (fantastic) or for something that elicits horror or alluding to the macabre.

From what used to be a horror-genre festival, Ngilngig Festival has expanded its scope to become the first fantastic film festival of its kind in Southeast Asia, extending the reach to other neighboring countries’ “ngilngig” films that are significant with our ways of telling fantastic stories to promote and preserve our myths, traditions, history and culture into cinematic form.

www.ngilngig.net

Ngilngig Festival is organized by Pasalidahay, a community of artists, filmmakers and organizers, who recognize the importance of a film as a platform for expression and change, who value the diversity of audiences and the need to develop an awareness, appreciation, and understanding of art and culture.

Film screenings and activities will take place in theaters, the Cinematheque Davao, and a variety of alternative spaces in Davao City, from October 25-31, 2019, with pre-festival programs on filmmaker and audience development happening within the city from July to September on the same year.

www.facebook.com/pasalidahay

Awards & Prizes

Awards are for short films only:
Best Asian Short
Best Philippine Short
Best Ngilngig Workshop Film
Jury Prize
Best Ngilngig Film

- All winners will receive a certificate and a trophy.
- The jury may be able to give special mentions.
- The decisions of the juries are final.
- In cash and in-kind prizes are also up for grabs!

Rules & Terms

I. ELIGIBILITY

Non-competitive section: Feature Films
All feature films (animation, documentary, experimental, feature, narrative, short, student, etc) with a minimum running time of 60 minutes are eligible for submission to the non-competitive section of the festival.

Competitive section: Short Films
All short films (animation, documentary, experimental, feature, narrative, short, student, etc) with a maximum running time of 20 minutes or less are eligible for submission.

II. SUBMISSION

All entries must use the form hereby included and must be received by the Festival before August 25, 2019.

There is no limit to the number of films submitted. A completely filled-in entry form must be sent for each film or video submitted. Each entry form should be accompanied by a short synopsis, trailer for feature film and 1min film teaser for short film, filmmaker's bio or filmography, director's or producer's statement, filmmaker's portrait (300dpi), film poster with a 12x18 size for short film and 27x40 size for feature film (300dpi), at least 3 film stills and 3 behind the scenes photos.

Required format:
Digital MP4 H.264 1080p24
Films and videos must be subtitled in English language

Please send your entry form along with other requirements to:
ngilngig2019@gmail.com

III. SELECTION and NOTIFICATION

All the entries will undergo a selection process voted by the core members of Pasalidahay. In order to ensure the quality of the selection process we charge an entry fee. In addition, the submission platform might charge a submission fee.

The early bird call runs from April 30, 2019 until June 25, 2019.

The regular call runs from June 25, 2019 until August 25, 2019. No films will be accepted after the regular deadline.

The submitter will be notified of the selection status (accepted / rejected) until the 25th of September through the submission platform or via email.

IV. EXCLUSIVITY

The entrant agrees that his or her film will not be screened publicly in the Philippines until the final notification of the selection status (due end of September).

If the film is being selected for Ngilngig Asian Fantastic Film Festival Davao, the entrant agrees that his or her film will not be screened publicly in the Philippines outside of the festival until after the end of the festival.

V. RIGHTS

By submitting your work to Ngilngig Asian Fantastic Film Festival Davao, you authorize the screening, use and the storage of your film and other promotional materials hereby included. Your film and other promotional materials will be kept safely, they will not be given to third parties and they will be used exclusively for the intended purposes, which are the selection and promotion of works for the Ngilngig Asian Fantastic Film Festival Davao.

After our main festival run and international programs run, we usually conduct outreach screenings (FREE OF CHARGE) to far-flung provinces; financially challenge areas: or those that may not have access to film screenings. In case, would you allow your films to be programmed in our outreach screenings? (We will not give financial compensation to the filmmakers and we will also not charge in our screenings venues. We have been doing these programs since our festival has started in 2013. It is part of our special education program and our way of giving back to our communities.)

We guarantee you that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to the film and other promotional materials you submit to us and that you are entitled to transfer the rights to us as specified in this agreement.

At any time you can ask which data of yours are in our archive, you can ask to remove them, to modify them, or to make them anonymous.

This is an agreement between you (the “submitter”) and Pasalidahay as the organizer of the event Ngilngig Asian Fantastic Film Festival Davao, If you have any questions contact us at: ngilngig2019@gmail.com or pasalidahay@gmail.com
3 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Jaime Morados

    Got connections with this fest. Awesome fest goals and the films are easy discussion topics among filmmakers, even after the fest. 10/10.

    November 2020
    Helpful
  • Jamie Kassler

    Although we were unable to attend this year, we were honoured to have our film, "Overtime" selected and screened at the 2019 Ngilngig Asian Fantastic Film Festival Davao. We are very thankful to the Ngilngig Asian team for their support and encouragement. We look forward to their future festivals and hope to participate again in the future.

    December 2019
    Helpful
  • Presley Paras

    For the early entry price, this festival is worth applying to. To be transparent, I was an international short project and never attended. I speaking solely from a communication/press perspective. From a press perspective, Ngilngig does a solid job of announcing their projects. My project was mentioned in two different sources online. Strangely, I really didn't see a social media presence with tagging filmmakers (unlike other festivals) As far as communicating, someone from the team reached out to me days before the premiere about getting the file (which was available through FilmFreeways as well as my vimeo link). This is pretty standard, so it made me wonder about the event and how organized it was (festivals are challenging to set up in my conversations with programmers). No doubt the programmers faced a daunting task but when you start attending enough festivals, it's easier to decipher which ones are on the ball. Overall, I'm adequately satisfied with the value since I paid the early entry fee. The communication and lack of social media presence was a bit discerning -- however, I always support genre festivals. Thank you for having me.

    December 2019
    Helpful