Davao’s BAI! festival kicks off
The BAI! BAI! BAI! Biennial Film Festival launched in Davao this weekend at Green House Cinema with over 50 short films and a focus on regional storytelling and indie resilience. The festival programming includes panels and networking for emerging filmmakers. (tribune.net.ph)
The festival was organized by the independent collective Estudio Au Contraire and runs as a curated, non-competition showcase on March 28–29, 2026. (tribune.net.ph) Nikko Martz serves as festival chancellor and said the program aims to improve access for Mindanao audiences while drawing inspiration from the New York Film Festival and Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. (tribune.net.ph) Programming is split into six curated sections — “Fede Decadente,” “Binisaya? No Wave!,” “Wow Davao!,” “Green Minded,” “Filipina New Wave,” and “Cathedral of Light and Sound” — with Kyla de Catalina named as host. (tribune.net.ph) A panel titled “the past and future of regional cinema” will feature filmmakers Jason Tan Liwag, Keith Deligero and Jay Rosas. (tribune.net.ph) The closing program includes a VHS/CRT-format screening of Keith Deligero’s Baboyngirongbuang (2010) and a Lifetime Achievement Award honoring his work with regional cinema and the Binisaya Film Festival. (tribune.net.ph) Organizers say the event is community-funded, not supported by local government or the Film Development Council of the Philippines, and deliberately set up as a single-venue festival to keep the program focused and manageable. (tribune.net.ph)
