Bakunawa Fest (13)

Festival start: 28 August 2026      Festival end: 05 September 2026

BAKUNAWA FEST is the first fantastic & genre-based film, art & music festival based in The Philippines and ran by volunteer filmmakers and artists. Bakunawa is a dragon-like creature in Philippine mythology that devoured moons. Because we are a genre-bending film fest, we want to flip the Bakunawa's role and we want it to instead symbolize the creative monsters inside us.

Because we've had a rough and tough year in 2024, our 11th and 12th editions were held this year 2025 had a very successful run, screening all our 95 selected films in physical venues starting in August 2025 and stretching up to December 2025 for the 12th edition. Bakunawa Fest runs annually in one season - spread in fourth months becoming a hybrid festival since the pandemic lockdowns.

Bakunawa was initially created with this principle: "new visions, new voices". We still stand by this principle as we continue to program young and young at heart promising filmmakers, artists & musicians who either have no access to expensive workshops and may not have the name recognition to be programmed in festivals. Since our third edition, we have included a section that screens curated local and international selected films mainly for educational purposes. Most of our Bakunawa Fest's film camps are done as outreach programs/workshops and are mostly free. Here our participants are scholars paid for by the festival and its partners usually hosted by different cities/municipalities in the Philippines.

[ Please note that, since we are an artist and volunteer-ran filmfest, we can't fund filmmakers to come physically and we don't pay screening fees. ]

We are a fantastic film fest. Our festival is interested in: Horror or Thriller Films / Sci-Fi, Fantasy or Adventure / Fantastic-themed Experimental Films, New Media, Expanded Cinema / Genre-Bending Films / Fantastic-themed Music Videos / Fantastic-themed Documentaries / Contemporary Art / Photography.

Bakunawa Fest determines the films for competition and outside of the competition sections. The appointed Board of Jury will award films in competition and is only required to award GRAND BAKUNAWA FOR BEST SHORT FILM and JURY PRIZE. The Jury however decides if they want to award films on specific categories. International winners get a Digital Certificate and Digital Kit while local winners get a printed Certificate and the Bakunawa trophies.

Film Critics invited by our festival also hand out independent awards & citations which were either deliberated or selected by them. Bakunawa team of organizers don't participate in these processes as we want to maintain the critics' independence. The festival hands out Digital Certificates to those cited by the film critics.

BAKUNAWA FEST XI JURIED WINNERS
►Grand Bakunawa for Best Short Film: Mu, Javier Méndez Cañada, Spain, 2025
►Grand Jury Prize: La identitat del Vent (Uncertainty Principle), André Brugnara Petry, Spain, 2025
►Best Animated Films: She and Her Good Vibrations, Olivia Griselda, Sarah Cheok, Singapore, 2023 / Eha Vari (The Shadow of Dawn), Olga Stalev, Estonia, 2024
►Best Horror Film: Imago, Rafa Dengrá Oliver, Spain, 2024
►Best Cinematography: Canto, Guilherme Daniel, Portugal, 2024
►Jury Citation for Performance: Georgia Eyers, An Artist's Curse, Australia, 2024
Jury Citation for Vision of the Future: Parking Area, Toru Masuyama, Japan, 2022

* COMPLETE Citations at https://www.facebook.com/bakunawafest/videos/1496463808065133

Rules & Regulations for BAKUNAWA FEST XIII. Please READ them before submitting your film.

OUR PROGRAMMING PRINCIPLE - A NOTE ON FILM SUBMISSIONS:

Our programmers pride themselves on watching all submitted films with an annual 100% watching average. We don't base our decisions on which festivals your film has been accepted. We decide on the merit of your film and not on the popularity of the filmmakers and its actors. All our competition shorts came from submissions via Festhome. Bakunawa has two festival advisers and curators who recommend films from around the world - especially, from Asia - but these recommendations pass through our chief programmer and are mostly programmed out of competition. So just submit and don't email us all your laurels. While we are happy of your achievements (because we're filmmakers too and we love fantastic film fests!), we still look at each film at "face value" - we watch them (usually more than twice) and decide.

[1.] We accept horror, fantasy, sci-fi, thriller and all kinds of genre films. WE ARE A FANTASTIC FESTIVAL AND WE FAVOR GENRE FILMS. Please check our categories for descriptions. Films released from 2023-2026 are accepted. Films ealrier than 2020, please submit under REWIND section.

[2] ENGLISH SUBTITLES REQUIRED PLEASE. WE CANNOT ACCEPT YOUR FILM IF SCREENERS ARE NOT SUBTITLED.

[3.] We want films from the young and the young at heart. By young, we mean fresh ideas and concepts; new ways of telling stories; unique approaches to issues; or innovative in many ways. Like any festival, this is a subjective process. We only limit two submissions per filmmaker. If you submit more than this, we shall only choose which one/s we like and if we want all, we will only choose one or two. Just as a submission guide: unless we really love both films, we usually only choose one.

[4.] Since the pandemic, we have evolved into a hybrid fest, meaning we screen ONLINE and IN PHYSICAL venue. The programmers will select which goes online and in-person. If you don't like this arrangement, please don't submit so we avoid emotional issues between parties.

[5.] Your films must be available for download up until August 15, 2026 for the festival and must be allowed to be played online up until December 2026 (Bakunawa Fest runs for a season).

[6.] In the past editions, we screen your films to our young film camp participants which we open to the public for free and in very limited engagements. Since the pandemic started, we have screened films online through our VOD Channel (with geoblocking provisions). Your films must be available for download and must be allowed to be played for online screenings during the festival season.

[7.] For Filipino films, we will only accept films created from Jan. 1, 2023 to present. IMPORTANT: Your film must not have been screened in more than one Filipino film festival to be accepted for competition. If you want to compete, we REQUIRE a PHILIPPINE PREMIERE (for competition films, only 15 minutes and under please). Those that are not premieres may be programmed under non-competition sections.

[8] Invited films (by our programmers and advisers) do not have these restrictions but they will have to go through the selection committee and may be programmed outside competition.

[9.] We do not pay for screening fees and we cannot fund your travel and accommodations. Please DON'T submit to us if you require fees and you want free travel and accommodation.

[10.] By entering your work in the festival, you are giving the festival and its organizers the right to screen your film, photographs and trailers at all our film camp, online festival sites and all festival venues and to print all film-related photos for festival promotions. Once selected, you cannot anymore withdraw your film from the festival. Our festival runs in months in different cities in the Philippines so by entering your work, you allow the festival to screen your works in our outreach tours.

[11.] By clicking SUBMIT, filmmakers certify that they possess all rights pertaining to their submitted films and exempt the festival organizers from third party claims. In case of a group work, a single representative must be named for purposes of correspondences.

[12.] By clicking SUBMIT, you hereby acknowledge to abide by the rules and regulations of this festival. We make sure that our staff and volunteers are not harrassed by filmmakers so we shall observe the behavior of filmmakers. We shall implement a mutual respect between filmmakers and our festival when communicating all througout the festival season. We shall decide appropriately and may remove your film from selection list if you treat our volunteers and festival staff with disrespect. Our festival will not tolerate hate speech nor filmmakers who discriminate.

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CHECKLIST OF WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU (If this is NOT complete, you leave us no choice but to disqualify you):

[1] Submission Via THIS FORM

[2] Your film must be downloadable if requested

[3] Trailer is REQUIRED and must be downloadable

[4] Poster, logline and synopsis are required.

[5] Photo of Director and bio are required

[6] Film Stills are required

THE FESTIVAL'S COMMITMENT WHEN YOUR FILM GETS SELECTED:

[1] Your film in our Festival Curated Programs and Website

[2] Your Digital Certificate of Selection from the Festival

[3] Digital Poster of the Festival

[4] Festival Laurels

[5] Portions of your film in our Omnibus Trailers

[6] Our commitment and assurance that your film is being handled by a handful of persons only so it doesn't get distributed nor shown to third parties and/or other individuals.