OPINION: If you think Pinoy films are repetitive, watch Puregold CinePanalo first

Puregold CinePanalo breaks mainstream formulas with fresh regional stories, bold perspectives, and student films.

“Paulit-ulit na lang ang plot ng mga pelikulang Pinoy.”

We hear this all the time. Another “kabitan.” Another “gasgas” comedy slop. Another romance film with the same love team we have seen the past five movies. The complaint has become so common that it almost sounds like an objective fact.

But here’s the uncomfortable question: How much Filipino cinema are you actually watching?

If your reference point is limited to the biggest commercial releases, then sure, the criticism has some basis. Mainstream cinema operates on formulas because formulas sell. Familiar stars, familiar genres, familiar conflicts. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, but it is hardly an accurate representation of everything Filipino filmmakers are making.

This is exactly why festivals like Puregold CinePanalo deserve more attention.

Its lineup is not designed around giving audiences another set of guaranteed box-office formulas. It gives filmmakers room to make films about communities, experiences, identities, and places that would rarely survive the commercial development process.

It also gives student short films a platform, putting fresh ideas and perspectives from up-and-coming storytellers in front of an actual audience. These filmmakers are still experimenting, taking risks, and finding new ways to tell stories that deserve to be seen. For an industry criticized for having the same formulas, making space for these new voices should be part of the solution.

And Puregold CinePanalo does not stop at screening films. It gives grants to filmmakers to actually produce them. That kind of support matters in an industry where a good idea can easily remain an idea simply because its creator cannot afford to produce it. Festivals like Puregold CinePanalo help bring stories to the screen that might otherwise never get made.

But if you are genuinely tired of seeing the same Filipino movie over and over again, this is the kind of lineup you should be watching.

Because you cannot complain that Pinoy films lack variety while refusing to look beyond the films that are already being offered to you on a silver platter.

You cannot say there are no regional stories when you only watch Manila-set films.

You cannot say Filipino filmmakers have nothing new to say when you keep watching the same stars, the same studios, and the same commercial genres.

And you definitely cannot dismiss Philippine cinema as repetitive after watching five movies.

So if you think Pinoy films are repetitive, prove yourself wrong. Watch Puregold CinePanalo.

Watch the student films. Watch the regional stories. Watch filmmakers you have never heard of.

Then complain.

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