Five distinguished individuals take on the challenging task of selecting the films that will bring home the coveted Balanghai trophies at this year’s Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival.

For its 20th year, the Cinemalaya Main Competition jury includes: critic, creative writer, and academic Nicanor Tiongson, renowned actress Dolly de Leon, Berlinale film curator Nicola Marzano, multi – awarded director/editor / composer/writer Jerrold Tarog, and Founder / Festival Director of the Dhaka International Film Festival Ahmed Muztaba Zamal. Each juror brings a wealth of experience and insight into the realm of cinema, contributing to a comprehensive assessment of the films presented at the country’s biggest independent film festival.

Nicanor Tiongson is professor emeritus at the UP Film Institute of the College of Mass Communication (CMC), University of the Philippines Diliman. He also served as vice president and artistic director of the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 1986-1994, and initiated /  implemented the policies on Filipinization, democratization, and decentralization. He also served briefly as chair of the MTRCB in 2001. He is a founding member and former chair of the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino. He co-founded the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival and served as its congress director for eight years. He has received a great deal of awards, grants, fellowships, and honors for his extensive contributions in the fields of film, theater, literature, and academia.

Renowned Filipina actress Dolly de Leon is widely recognized for her outstanding performances in theater, television, and films. She has received several nominations and awards for her outstanding performances. She won Best Supporting Actress at the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), FAMAS Awards, and Gawad Urian Awards for her performance in the 2022 movie “Triangle of Sadness.” She also won the North Dakota Film Society’s Best Supporting Actress award and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association’s (LAFCA) Best Supporting Performer award. She was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Swedish Guldbagge Awards for her performance. Dolly De Leon’s global fame grew even further when she was nominated for two major awards: the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) and the Golden Awards for Best Supporting Actress.

Film curator, film lecturer and film producer, Nico Marzano has been head of the film department of the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London for ten years. Currently collaborating with the Rome Film Fest and Berlinale, he has served on the juries of prestigious festivals such as Sundance, Venice Film Festival, London Film Festival and Cinema du Reel. He has held workshops in Cannes and at important institutional venues worldwide. Nico has advised and collaborated in various capacities on numerous indie film productions including films directed by Gianfranco Rosi and Pietro Marcello.

Jerrold Tarog is a multi-awarded director, editor, composer, and writer. His critically acclaimed works span various genres, including the political mockumentary “Confessional,” the indie romance “Sana Dati,” and the psychological thriller “Bliss.” He has also contributed to different kinds of horror in the “Shake, Rattle & Roll” anthologies and directed historical biopics such as the cultural phenomenon “Heneral Luna” and “Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral.”

Ahmed Muztaba Zamal is a noted film society activist in Bangladesh. Presently he is the President of Rainbow Film Society (a leading film society of the country). He is the founder, festival director of the Dhaka International Film Festival, the first ever private sector full length feature film festival in Bangladesh since 1992. In 1994, he founded the Bangladesh Chapter of FIPRESCI and was elected Secretary General of International Film Critics Association of Bangladesh-IFCAB. He had the opportunity to participate in many important film festivals as international, Fipresci and Netpac jury like Cannes, Berlinale, and Venice, etc. He runs a quarterly cine-magazine Celluloid.

Meanwhile, the juries for the NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) Award are: producer Nina Kochelyaeva, producer and filmmaker Monster Jimenez, and filmmaker Jay Abello.

Nina Kochelyaeva has a Ph.D. in History and a Laureate of the Russian Federation Governmental Award in the field of education. She is the Head of Department for the Development and Approbation of Film Education Methods and teacher at The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, a.k.a. VGIK, director of the Non-Governmental Organisation for development of projects and research in culture and the arts “New Institute for Cultural Research”, Teacher on film history at Nikita Mikhalkovs’ Academy for Cinematography and Theatre Arts, expert and teacher at the Russian Academy for National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation. She is a member of selection committee of Moscow International Film Festival responsible for Asia-Pacific and MENA regions, program director of Kazan International Festival for Muslim Cinema and other several international film festivals in Russia. She is also a producer and programmer of Dhaka International Film Festival. She is an author of more than 150 articles dedicated to cultural policy, art and film history, published in Russian, English, Kazakh and Korean languages. She is a NETPAC member since 2021.

Monster Jimenez is a producer, filmmaker, mentor and documentary advocate. She is the managing director of This Side Up, a media company based in Manila. She is a co-founder of the Filipino Documentary Society, which organized the biggest documentary fest in the Philippines. She directed a documentary entitled Kano: An American and His Harem which won in International Documentary Film Festival, Gawad Urian and Cinemanila. Her producing credits include the Sundance-winning Leonor Will Never Die, Respeto and Apocalypse Child. Monster’s film in development with director Martika Ramirez Escobar, “Daughters of the Sea,” took part in the 16th edition of La Fabrique Cinema, a tailored program at the Cannes Film Festival. She is currently in pre-production for another collaboration with Mario Cornejo for the film, My Neighbor the Gangster.

Born in Silay City in Negros island, Jay Abello is an industry disciple working in over 10 TV soap operas and 25 films in the last 25 years. Apprenticed under Ms. Lee Briones in 2004-2006, went to Rockport, Maine for a summer program in feature film lighting in 2006, and launched his career as a cinematographer-director in 2007. He has been part of the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival as a filmmaker in 8 entry films, a lecturer and instructor for the Cinemalaya workshops, and member of the selection committee for short films. He has also directed 7 feature length films but among all his roles in the industry, he most cherishes his experiences lensing and lighting for some of the most talented storytellers in the country like Coreen Jimenez, Carlitos Siguion Reyna, Isabel Sandoval, Mark Meily and Laurice Guillen He is a member of Lupon ng Pilipinong Sinematograpo (LPS), currently works as a DP for television but never stops writing screenplays for his own pleasure.

Cinemalaya 20 opens on August 2, with a red carpet, opening program and screening of Sheron Dayoc’s Gospel of the Beast. It will run until August 11, at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay and other selected Ayala Malls Cinemas.

For more information, visit the CCP website (www.culturalcenter.gov.ph) and the Cinemalaya website (www.cinemalaya.org). Follow the official CCP and Cinemalaya Facebook pages and other social media accounts on X, Instagram, and TikTok.