A Look at Cinemalaya 2026 Shorts B

By Brontë H. Lacsamana, Reporter

The short film selection at this year's Cinemalaya, the Philippines' premier independent film festival, continues to amplify voices that might otherwise struggle to reach a broad audience. The Shorts B program, in particular, turns its gaze toward pockets of warmth amid a cruel world.

All five films in the group employ distinct storytelling approaches to illuminate the realities Filipinos navigate and the coping mechanisms they develop. The lineup includes an animated reflection on what it means to protect something, a poignant portrait of grief seen through a fisherman's child, an unflinching look at a street vendor's daily life, a tribute to fractured dreams passed from mother to daughter, and a documentary account from Palestinian refugees sharing their displacement journey.

Beyond demonstrating the creative potential of the short film format, the collection invites audiences to reflect on the quiet, tender moments that punctuate suffering.

The Keeper

The program opens with a collaboration between animator Nolan Rae Fabular and visual artist TRNZ, who have teamed up under Fleet Studios to launch a new venture in Filipino animation.

The project was first exhibited at Art Fair Philippines, where TRNZ's painting style was brought to life through animation. At Cinemalaya, audiences experience it as a complete theatrical film, following a trophy-room keeper navigating an isolated, meticulously organized space.

The short offers a simple meditation on the things people choose to protect — whether symbols of achievement or the subtle emergence of life. While the narrative lacks specificity, making it difficult for viewers to fully connect with the girl and her circumstances, the film demonstrates a firm command of space, ambience, and perspective that allows it to resonate regardless.

The Keeper serves as a promising first showcase from a new animation studio and a tantalizing glimpse of what Filipino animation, especially when fused with traditional visual art, might deliver going forward.

Sorbetes

Jennissie Gilbuena's film centers on two brothers grappling with a traumatic loss: the disappearance of their father, a fisherman, caught between literal and geopolitical storms.

Told through the eyes of the two boys, the story unfolds against the backdrop of a labor force cast aside in a country where nature's fury and inadequate governance exact a heavy toll. Goldfish, arcade games, ice cream, and brotherly love help the younger brother weather an unimaginable loss.

While the film could benefit from additional context to more fully link the struggles of fishermen and government negligence to the children's suffering, Sorbetes remains deeply affecting. Above all, it strikes a universal chord with anyone who has been offered ice cream as comfort after crying.

Kung Paano Kakalas

Joseph Vitali's kung paano kakalas is a standout documentary that engages directly with its subject, Edison, a street vendor compelled to sell sherbet even on Christmas Day. Its lighthearted tone makes it a pleasure to watch, yet at its core it is an empathetic portrait of those who must keep working even when exhaustion demands rest.

The film gives Edison a platform to reach audiences, capturing the many facets of his personality — from his entertaining "Chris Brown" public persona, to the talkative friend after a few drinks, to the worn-out laborer hustling on Christmas Eve. Both on- and off-screen banter are retained in the final cut, giving the documentary an unstructured, dynamic, and observational quality.

Kung paano kakalas is transportive for viewers and ultimately liberating for Edison. Over the course of 20 minutes, his distinctly Pinoy humor and hardship become intimately familiar.

Elenita Elena Elaine

The Serrano sisters, Gabriela and Mariana — rising figures in independent short filmmaking — present Elenita Elena Elaine, one of their most personal projects to date. Set in a retro-futuristic nighttime Manila, the film weaves together call centers, bars, and haunting memories that bind a woman to her mother.

Directed by Gabriela Serrano and starring Mariana Serrano alongside Agot Isidro and Gabby Padilla, the film is a neon-soaked tribute to dreams that have slipped away. Its narrative is anything but linear, carrying viewers through scenes of longing and loneliness framed by the constricting walls of dreary, labor-intensive realities.

On paper, the film might sound bleak, but visually and sonically it transforms into a dreamlike experience. Hazy passions and desires transfer from mother to daughter in a romanticized reverie that may not be entirely accessible due to bold stylistic choices. What lingers, however, is the unmistakable sense that something beautiful has been lost for these women.

The River Flows in Different Places

Closing the program is Lot-lot Hermosura's documentary, previously screened at the Film Development Council of the Philippines' (FDCP) Films for Peace festival.

The River Flows in Different Places follows two Filipino-Palestinian mothers who were forced to flee Gaza. The film chronicles their repatriation to the Philippines, where they now attempt to reconstruct the meaning of home in a land at once foreign and familiar.

Beyond the conventional interview format where the refugees share their truths, the documentary observes the spaces they occupy — the rooms shared with family and the modest cityscape views visible through windows, each a quiet reminder that they are no longer in their homeland. The mechanical click of an analog camera accompanies a sequence of photographs spanning the timeline of their displacement, from Gaza to Metro Manila.

By allowing its subjects to narrate their harrowing present, the film conveys an urgent and vital story. Like the other shorts in the program, it reveals the warmth that people in the most severe circumstances seek — through personal passions, devotion to family, or complex journeys toward a better life.

Across all five works, the filmmakers' distinctive approaches demonstrate how animation, documentary, and arthouse cinema can flourish beyond the constraints of mainstream storytelling.

Cinemalaya 2026 Shorts B is screening at Shangri-La, Gateway, and Ayala Malls (Manila Bay, Market! Market!, Glorietta, Circuit, Trinoma) until Aug. 18.