The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival is a film competition and festival that aims to encourage the creation of new cinematic works by Filipino filmmakers – works that boldly articulate and freely interpret the Filipino experience with fresh insight and artistic integrity. It also aims to invigorate the Philippine filmmaking by developing a new breed of Filipino filmmakers. Each year, ten fresh talents are given a seed grant in order to create the film of their dreams. These films are then featured in a nine-day long festival at the Cultural Center of the Philippines every July and compete for the coveted Balanghai Award. Awards are also given in twelve other categories, as well for the best efforts in short narrative features. Along with these competition films, are an array of exhibitions that include Tributes to Past Indie Mavericks of Pinoy Cinemal, a Cinemalaya Kids’ Treats, World Premieres of New Digital Works (the Cinemalaya/NETPAC Prize), and other modules. Aside from the screenings are other exciting film-related events: the Cinemalaya Film Congress, a two-day conference that looks at all aspects of independent filmmaking and distribution; the Cinemalaya Sine Taktakan, a forum with the year’s batch of new Cinemalaya filmmakers; and a host of other events.