Star Powerhouse

  For its first season, Brilyante Theatre Collective and TarpSoc will bring Drag Race Philippines Season 1 drag queen Turing in UP Los Baños for “BOOM, Turing! Ang Kabogerang Lip Sync Masterclass,” a lecture-demonstration and workshop on the art of lip synching for five selected baby drag queens and aspiring drag queens in Laguna on October 22, 2026, at CAS Annex 2, UP Los Baños.  “I want the new generation of drag artists to be great in lip syncing. I hope through my workshop, they'll gain the knowledge and understanding on how important lip syncing is and how they can improve theirs base sa mga matututunan nila sa akin ” says Turing.  “We want to encourage young people to explore their queer artistic selves through queer art forms, such as the art of drag”, says Brilyante Artistic Director Aldrin Bula. “It's high time na yumabong ang queer spaces for queer artists lalo na sa mga probinsya at rehiyon na malayo at kulang sa access and resources. At present, we're...

  The gripping independent feature “Ganggang,” an official entry to the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival 2026, will be screened at the Far Eastern University Main Auditorium on October 20. FEU students will get an opportunity to watch the film next Tuesday, from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM, as the FEU Department of Communication hosts a special screening of “Ganggang,” which will be followed by a talkback session with director JL Burgos. “Ganggang,” set against the lush yet troubled backdrop of rural Bulacan, weaves a narrative through the innocent eyes of three young boys: Mel, a newcomer from the city; Ilay, a child of desaparecidos ; and Tenten, the son of a farmer-activist. Brought together by their quest to find the ultimate fighting spider to take down Anton, the school bully, the boys form an unlikely alliance. Yet, as their search deepens, they find that their bond, and their lives, will face far greater challenges than a schoolyard rivalry. The film features stan...

  The 25th edition of Película>Pelikula (the Manila Spanish Film Festival) returned to Metro Manila from October 4 to 11, featuring 23 acclaimed feature-length and short films spanning Spain, Latin America, and the Philippines. The event, organized by Instituto Cervantes de Manila together with the Embassy of Spain, AECID Cultura, and key local partners, marked its silver anniversary at Power Plant Cinema 2 at the Power Plant Mall in Rockwell Center, Makati City. Staying true to its founding mission of making global cinema accessible to the local audience, all screenings were free of charge and presented in their original language with English subtitles. The 2026 curated roster offered a rich mix of festival winners, historical epics, family animation, and provocative documentaries. Película>Pelikula, first established in 2002, has grown into the longest-running foreign film festival in the Philippines and the premier Spanish-language film event across Southeast Asia. Institu...

  “Ang Embalsamador, Baliw, at Bangkay” (The Embalmer, the Madman, and the Corpse), a short film from Far Eastern University Department of Communication, has been officially selected to compete in the 10th Ngilngig Asian Fantastic Film Festival. The film, which was produced as a final project for the Directing and Film Production class and competed at Sinepiyu last year, tries to answer, “What does it mean to truly exist when routine and rigid societal expectations slowly hollow us out from within?” For director Jasper Tan, the solution lies in a dark, provocative intersection of death, obsession, and self-discovery. The festival, scheduled to run from October 24 to 28 at the Cinematheque Centre Davao and The Green House Cinema in Davao City, celebrates a decade of showcasing bold genre cinema, strange encounters, and shifting realities. This year’s edition gathers 50 short films from across Asia, split into three distinct categories: Third Eye (Shorts in Competition), Visions (Sp...

 Norwegian pop duo M2M, composed of Marit Larsen and Marion Ravn, is returning to Manila for their TWO Global Tour 2027 on April 2, 2027, at the Araneta Coliseum. Following the success of their 2025 Better Endings Tour, which sold out across Asia and other countries, the duo is ready to continue their musical journey with a new global tour. The TWO Global Tour will begin in March 2027 in Singapore before heading to Manila, Hong Kong, Jakarta, and Mexico. Fans can look forward to hearing M2M's classic hits, including “Don't Say You Love Me,” “Mirror Mirror,” “Pretty Boy,” and “The Day You Went Away.” The show will also feature new songs and a reimagined concert experience. According to Marit Larsen, the success of the Better Endings Tour inspired the duo to continue performing together. Marion Ravn also shared that their new chapter explores their connection as childhood friends and songwriters while bringing fresh ideas to their music. Tickets for M2M's TWO Global Tour in ...

  The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), in partnership with National Theatre Live and Ayala Malls Cinemas, brings two acclaimed British theatre productions to Philippine cinema screens on October 27 at 6:00 p.m. through the third season of CCP’s National Theatre Live. David Ireland's The Fifth Step premieres at Ayala Greenbelt 3 Cinema in Makati, while Peter Morgan's The Audience premieres at Ayala Vertis North, Nuvali in Laguna, and Ayala Malls Manila Bay. Through these simultaneous screenings, CCP’s National Theatre Live continues its commitment to making international theatre more accessible to Filipino audiences. Written by acclaimed Irish playwright David Ireland, The Fifth Step follows James, a recovering alcoholic with years of sobriety, who takes newcomer Luka under his wing as he begins his journey through a twelve-step recovery program. What begins as a friendship grounded in shared experiences gradually develops into a more complicated relationship as thei...

  The film “Bloom Where You Are Planted” bagged four top honors at the 49th Gawad Urian awarding ceremony held last October 8 at the Yuchengco Auditorium of De La Salle University. Presented by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino, the full-length feature took home Best Film, Best Documentary, Best Direction for Noni Abao, and Best Editing for Che Tagyamon. The victory builds upon the documentary’s earlier acclaim at the 21st Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, where it won Best Full-Length Film and Best Editing last year. “Bloom Where You Are Planted,” produced by Alex Poblete and Taripnong Cagayan Valley, chronicles the systemic oppression, displacement, red-tagging, and extrajudicial atrocities faced by land defenders and community organizers in the Cagayan Valley region. Rather than relying on sensationalism or manipulated sentimentality, Abao’s direction captures the lives of grassroots figures with a restrained, meditative cadence. The documentary follows the jour...