‘Filipiñana’ selected as PH entry to the Academy Awards

The black comedy-drama "Filipiñana” has been selected as the official Philippine entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards.

The Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) announced the selection on Sunday, September 13. The announcement was originally set on September 4.

“Filipiñana,” a 2026 dark satire written and directed by Rafael Manuel, was chosen from a shortlist of eight films. The other titles considered were Carl Joseph Papa’s “58th,” Jade Catro’s “All the Things I Leave You (Patawid),” Sigrid Andrea Bernardo’s “I’mPerfect,” Raymond Red’s “Manila’s Finest,” Jerrold Tarog’s “Quezon,” Larence Fajardo’s “Silenced Nights,” and Jun Robles Lana’s “Sisa.”

Set in an exclusive golf and country club outside Manila, “Filipiñana” examines class disparities, patriarchy, post-colonial inequities, and structural violence. 

Through the enclosed world of the club, the film explores the tensions between privilege and labor, wealth and inequality, and the social structures that allow these hierarchies to persist.

 In a press release, the FAP said the committee recognized the film’s strong visual style and its incisive examination of “class, power, labor, and social realities.”  

It also considered the film’s integrity, the producers’ commitment and capacity to meet the requirements of an Oscars campaign, and the film’s growing international profile.

The film stars Jorrybell Agoto, Carmen Castellanos, Teroy Guzman, Carlos Siguion-Reyna, Isabel Sicat, and Nour Hooshmand. Also in the cast are Elle Velasco, Angeli Bayani, Micah Musa, Sunshine Teodoro, Pipay Kipay, and Agot Isidro.

“Filipiñana” began its international festival run with its world premiere in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision.

It later had its European premiere in the Perspectives section of the 76th Berlin International Film Festival. The film also screened at the San Francisco International Film Festival, where it won the New Directors Award, and at the Independent Film Festival of Boston, where it received the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature. It was awarded the Luna de València for Best Feature Film at the Cinema Jove International Film Festival, 

The film’s international reach has continued to grow, with Kino Lorber acquiring its North American distribution rights following its Sundance recognition and BFI Distribution picking it up for theatrical release in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Aside from “Filipiñana,” the organization will also support “58th” in the Best Documentary Feature category, as well as Arvin Belarmino and Kyla Danelle Romero’s “Agapito” for Best Live Action Short Film.

The submitted entries will now undergo the Academy’s selection process, with the Best International Feature Film shortlist expected on December 15, 2026, and the final Oscar nominations to be announced on January 21, 2027. The Oscars will take place on March 14, 2027, at the Dolby Theatre in Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, California.