Make a film in 5 days? This Naga fest turns summer Into a creative bootcamp

ALT-R HEROES 2026 challenges filmmakers to write, shoot, and premiere a short film in just five days.

If your idea of a productive summer involves finally making that film you’ve been talking about since 2019, consider this your sign.

ALT-R HEROES 2026 is opening its doors—and this time, it’s not just about watching films. It’s about making one. Fast.

Happening from May 26 to 30 in Naga City, Camarines Sur, the festival is turning into a full-blown creative bootcamp, where selected participants will be tasked to write, shoot, and premiere a short film in just five days. 

Yes, five. No pressure.

At the heart of it is the Naga Film Laboratory, a hands-on program that skips the endless “planning stage” and dives straight into execution. Participants won’t just sit through talks—they’ll be out there building stories from the ground up, guided by mentors who know the terrain, both literally and creatively.

As festival founder Jay Altarejos puts it, the goal is simple but loaded: filmmakers won’t just talk about cinema—they will create it.

What goes down in five days? A lot, actually:

• Develop a concept rooted in lived experience
• Write a short film from scratch
• Shoot on location
• Edit and finalize the project
• Premiere it before a live audience

Somewhere in between, participants will also navigate crash courses in cinematic language, directing, sound, and storytelling—basically everything you wish film school squeezed into a week.

The pressure is part of the point. By stripping away time and overthinking, the lab pushes filmmakers to trust their instincts and find their voice—fast.

And if that’s not enough to raise your pulse, there’s also THE FINAL EIGHT, the festival’s short film competition. 

Open to filmmakers with Bicol roots, it’s free to enter—but only eight films make the cut. Exclusivity, but make it indie.

Beyond the tight timelines and high stakes, ALT-R HEROES is quietly doing something bigger: shifting the filmmaking conversation away from Metro Manila. With previous editions popping up in places like Masbate, Dumaguete, and even Bangkok, the festival continues to prove that storytelling doesn’t need a capital city to thrive.

This year, Naga City becomes a temporary filmmaking hub—part classroom, part set, part stage.

 

 

So if you’ve been waiting for the “right time” to make a film, this might not be it. This is faster. Application deadline is on April 30, 2026.

 

 

Apply here: https://forms.gle/fS34m7EApAisdtYdA
More information: https://facebook.com/altrheroesfilmfestival

 

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