What’s Next For VisMin Cinema?:SineDisipulo Film Festival Makes its 14th Stop

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Mar 4

Written By Jea Nicole

What’s Next For VisMin Cinema?:
SineDisipulo Film Festival Makes its 14th Stop

Jea Nicole March 4, 2026, 2:00 PM

*SINEDISIPULO XIV | Taken from the CINEMATA Facebook Page*

Direct quotes in this article have been paraphrased for clarity and conciseness.

CEBU — Tracing the momentum of what had been a productive unraveling for regional cinema, University of San Carlos (USC) CINEMATA’s SineDisipulo Film Festival navigated its way forward as it returned for its 14th edition with the theme, “Railways through the Regions.”

During its three-day run from February 26 to 28, 2026, the festival held space for emerging student filmmakers from the Visayas and Mindanao through its set of screenings and talkback sessions, where they engaged in discourse on their creative processes and their films’ distinct regional sensibilities, altogether raising high hopes early on for what awaits the Visayan and Mindanaoan film scenes this year.

Opening with ‘Huwebes Huwebes’

*Huwebes Huwebes directors Kris Villarino and Januar Yap*

In a time when the country reckons with overdue justice, it is but timely that the local film festival opened with the 2019 Cebuano and Adlaw Adlaw culminating feature film ‘Huwebes Huwebes,’ which follows three stories set against the backdrop of the Duterte regime’s war on drugs.

Directed by Kristoffer Villarino, Don Gerardo Frasco, and Januar Yap, the segments, Takot Reef, Pa-burger sa Camotes, and Maharlika, are bound by a shared connection to the sea, each exploring the impact of the drug war through different perspectives and treading patiently on who these victims were, what lives they lived, and the depth of their relationships with other people before they were unjustly executed.

Keeping regional identity intact

While serving as festival jurors, Villarino and Yap also extended guidance to the new generation of student filmmakers and festival organizers.

CINEMATA President and Cinema student, Ralph Bequilla, spoke with SINEGANG.ph on the advice given by the Cebuano filmmakers throughout the festival preparations. “They guided me on what to do and what not to do in organizing the festival. With Sir Kris as my prof in documentary filmmaking and both of them as juries, I was able to talk to them on the criteria in judging the films, that our best film should be aligned with SineDisipulo's identity,” he said.

According to Bequilla, the festival has always sought to enrich the regional perspective by providing a platform made primarily for student filmmakers from Visayas and Mindanao.

“As a regional filmmaker myself from Cebu, I believe that this is a platform for regional voices to shine. I really hope Visayas and Mindanaoan films get the recognition they deserve. Hopefully, it also becomes more accessible, especially for the younger generations, so they learn and realize that regional films are important,” he added.

Originally a local student filmmaking competition founded by USC’s first batch of cinema students, SineDisipulo began opening its doors to participants from outside Cebu in 2024 and has since evolved into a VisMin film festival.

List of Winners at SINEDISIPULO XIV

In partnership with SM J Mall Cebu, this year’s Sinedisipulo Film Festival held its first two days of screenings at Kyurēto Art Space, featuring a lineup categorized into three sets. Set A, “Ties that Bind,” featured shorts that invite the audience into a reunion of memories, places, and bonds that define home. Set B, “Shifting Frames” highlighted films that channel the experimental spirit of regional cinema. Finally, Set C, “Lives Carved in Time,” consisted of documentaries spotlighting fresh voices and perspectives in the local film scene.

The festival concluded at the mall’s Izakaya Terrace on February 28 with the awarding and socials night.

Of the twenty narrative and documentary short films screened at SineDisipulo XIV, the following titles received awards:

Best Film