BFF 2025 Awards Night highlights local cinematic excellence (Copy)
ALT-R HEROES 2025 closes six-month tour with ‘The Final Frame’ at Sine Pop
The filmmakers with the jury and selection committee pictured together at the ALT-R HEROES 2025 closing ceremony.
ALT-R HEROES 2025 closed its six-month, multi-city cinema tour Sunday, December 15, with The Final Frame at Sine Pop in Cubao, where 13 short film finalists competed for top honors in an awards program celebrating cinema of social consciousness and stories from the margins.
Organized by 2076 Kolektib under festival director Jay Altarejos, the festival opened June 29 at Sine Pop with the theme “From LGBT Rights to Human Rights.”
Over the past six months, ALT-R HEROES 2025 moved beyond conventional theaters, screening in community venues in Quezon City and staging regional legs in Camarines Sur and Negros Oriental. Each stop emphasized dialogue and accessibility through filmmaker Q&As and workshops designed to deepen engagement between creators and the communities they visited.
The final program opened with Kasal, a landmark feature by Altarejos that examines marriage equality, setting the tone for the evening’s focus on rights, intimacy, and collective struggle.
The 13 finalist shorts, referred to by the festival as its “Final Heroes,” were presented through three curated sequences modeled on the hero’s journey, tracing arcs of awakening, confrontation, and transformation. The program closed with Huwag Mo Akong Salingin, Altarejos’ first short film, a poetic and sensorial meditation on womanhood, fabric, touch, and reclamation.
The festival’s selection committee was composed of Manuel Garcellano, Marco Bertillo Mata, and Altarejos, while the jury featured an all-women panel: Lisa Ito-Tapang, Siege Ledesma, Bunny Cadag, Kyla Romero, and Marinel Cruz. The Final Frame Awards honored 13 short films that embody what the festival calls a “Cinema of Social Consciousness” – a cinema rooted in truth, grounded in community, and committed to human dignity. The trophies, collectively titled “The Balangaw Obelisk,” were designed by Altarejos.
Festival director Jay Altarejos revealing the Final Frame trophies.
The Winners at the ALT-R HEROES 2025: The Final Frame
Sama Bella, directed by Pia Duran, won the 2076 Kolektib Film Prize for Best Picture. The short follows Bella, a Sama Bajau transgender woman, and her quiet early mornings with her brothers spent fishing, depicting daily labor and family life within a seafaring diasporic community.
Tumbang Press(o) emerged as one of the night’s biggest winners, earning Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Sound for Edsel Gasmen. The short playfully reimagines a familiar street game to expose how rules bend – and break – when power is challenged.
Edsel Gasmen, together with the rest of the Tumbang Press(o) cast, received the Best Director award.
Khert Gabayeron received the Final Frame Award (Festival Director’s Choice) for Al-Owlah, which portrays internal migration through the compassionate lens of a marginalized child’s inner life.
The Gawad Balangaw (Jury Prize), honoring works of profound emotional and cultural significance, was awarded to Malisbong 50 by Justine Polanco for its powerful exploration of historical trauma tied to the 50th anniversary of the Malisbong massacre in Sultan Kudarat.
Justine Polanco receiving the Gawad Balangaw (Jury Prize) for Malisbong 50.
Special Jury Citations went to Ode to Lavender by Rey Anthony Villaverde and Puti by Geremy Rivera.
Below is the full list of winners from the ALT-R HEROES 2025 The Final Frame Awards:
2076 Kolektib Film Prize (Best Picture)
SAMA BELLA by Pia Duran
ALT-R HEROES Visionary Award (Best Director)
Edsel Gasmen (TUMBANG PRESS(O))
Final Frame Award (Festival Director’s Choice)
Khert Gabayeron (AL-OWLAH)
Gawad Balangaw - Jury Prize
MALISBONG 50 by Justine Polanco
Special Jury Citations
ODE TO LAVENDER by Rey Anthony Villaverde
PUTI by Geremy Rivera
Best Screenplay
TUMBANG PRESS(O) by Edsel Gasmen
PHULERA POSHAK PORENA (DEFY) by Aasif U Hamid
Best Cinematography
Michaela Mariah Concepcion (AL-OWLAH)
Best Editing
Ken Magpusao (MIK-AP)
Best Sound
Edsel Gasmen (TUMBANG PRESS(O))
Best Music
Rey Anthony Villaverde (ODE TO LAVENDER)
Best Production Design
Blanche Ballesteros & Sabrina San Juan (LAST NIGHT NA NI BADING)
Gawad Silakbo - Best Performance
Aymon Shimla (PHULERA POSHAK PORENA (DEFY))
Ensemble (ANG HALIKAN SA WATER FOUNTAIN)
Audience Prize
MIK-AP by Justiny Sayson
ALT-R HEROES 2025 toured four cities over six months before closing with The Final Frame on December 15 at Sine Pop in Cubao. Visit the official 2076 Kolektib page for more details.
