In a country shaped by deep Catholic roots, conversations about sex and sensuality often remain hushed, confined to bedrooms and cloaked in shame. Lust is hidden, not celebrated — a secret many Filipinos fear to acknowledge for fear of being judged, labeled, or outcast. This culture of repression has long dictated how intimacy is depicted in our films, where passion is either romanticized into innocence or erased altogether.
Enter the CineSilip Film Festival, running from October 22-28, at the Ayala Malls Cinemas. Unlike the timid conventions of mainstream cinema, CineSilip positions itself as the bravest and most daring film festival in the country — not only because it gives emerging directors space to experiment, but because it confronts Filipinos with the very thing they often avoid: their own sensuality.
Festival director Ronald Arguelles captured this spirit in his remarks:
“Welcome to the inaugural Cine Silip Film Festival, ang bagong festival ng mga pelikulang mapangahas, matapang, at naiiba. The festival is showcasing exciting works from emerging Filipino directors aiming to discover fresh voices for the platforms of Viva and Philippine cinema. Today, we are witnessing new beginnings, bagong pag-iisip, bagong perspektibo at mga boses na handang maglahad ng ilang kuwento. So this is just not a festival. It’s a platform for fearless storytelling, space kung saan welcome ang eksperimento at kung saan lumalabas ang tunay na creativity ng mga Pinoy. Today, we will meet the risk takers, the dreamers, and the filmmakers of the seven new feature films. These films will make you laugh, cry, question, and maybe even feel uncomfortable — the magic of daring cinema. Cine Silip is here to prove na buhay na buhay ang Filipino cinema. Evolving at nagpapatuloy and ready to take a new world.”
The seven film entries explore eroticism across genres: from Gian Arre’s coming-of-age fantasy “Ang Lihim ni Maria Makinang” to Rodina Singh’s psychological drama “Dreamboi,” Mikko Baldoza’s erotic horror “Haplos Sa Hangin,” Alan Habon’s sexy comedy “Maria Azama: Da Best P*rn Star,” and more.
CineSilip does not sensationalize sex; it reframes it. By bringing desire, obsession, and intimacy to the fore — sometimes beautiful, sometimes frightening, sometimes funny — it challenges audiences to see sensuality not as taboo, but as essential to the Filipino experience.
It could be said that globally, daring cinema has long found a home — whether at Berlin’s Panorama section, Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, or Venice’s Midnight sidebar. CineSilip is the Philippines’ answer to this tradition, finally giving local voices a stage to wrestle with the same taboos without apology.
But history looms large. The MTRCB once banned films like Lino Brocka’s “Orapronobis” (1989) and Jose Javier Reyes’s “Live Show” (2001), both condemned by the Catholic Church and the local authorities for their raw depictions of sex, politics, and social truth. These battles revealed how institutions sought to police not just screens, but imagination itself.
Now, CineSilip dares to break the silence once more. But the question remains: Are we, as a nation, actually ready for this?
