Philippine-based production house Daluyong Studios begins the year strong with films at top-tier film festivals: “Radiant Frost” at the Sundance Film Festival, “Moonglow” and “Noodles, Our Love Was Instant and Forever” at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, “Water Sports,” “Headhunter’s Daughter,” and “Agapito” at the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival, and “Raging” at the Berlinale.
Photo caption: (Clockwise from top) Movie stills from Daluyong Studios’ films “Water Sports,” “Moonglow,” “Agapito,” “Radiant Frost,” and “Raging.”
Producer Alemberg Ang remarked appreciatively, “After a very good 2025, Daluyong Studios is off to a great start in 2026 as three of our full-length features and three of our short films are in the world’s major winter international film festivals.”
Daluyong Studios opened its 2026 festival season with the world premiere of US-based filmmaker Hannah Schierbeek’s short “Radiant Frost” at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. The mystery-thriller set in upper Michigan tells the story of a woman who encounters a mysterious group of people. “Radiant Frost” screened at the Sundance from January 25 to February 1, 2026; it was one of 54 works that vied for awards in the festival’s shorts competition.
International Short Film Festival Clermont-Ferrand (ISFFC), the world’s top short film festival, is featuring three films from Daluyong. In the official selection is the Cannes title, “Agapito,” a tale about sibling love set in a bowling alley by Arvin Belarmino and Kyla Romero, competing for the Short Film of the Year. Participating in the Lab Competition is Whammy Alcazaren’s “Water Sports,” a post-apocalyptic queer love story about two teens figuring out how to survive climate change. Rounding out the company’s participation is writer-director Don Eblahan’s short, “Headhunter’s Daughter,” about a girl who leaves the Cordillera highlands to become a country singer, in the regional spotlight as the French festival features Southeast Asia this year. The ISFFC is from January 30 to February 7, 2026.
“Moonglow,” written and directed by US-based Filipino filmmaker Isabel Sandoval, is making its world premiere at the Big Screen Competition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). Set in 1970s Manila, “Moonglow” is about a jaded female police detective who reunites with an ex-cop and former lover to investigate the very crime she orchestrated.
Ang declared, “Isabel Sandoval’s ‘Moonglow’ is probably the biggest film that I’ve ever worked on and I’m super proud of what we have done. I’m so happy we are going to unveil it at IFFR.”
Likewise, Sandoval was pleased to have collaborated with Ang. She said, “Alemberg instinctively understood Manila’s texture, history and contradictions that I wanted to capture in ‘Moonglow’. He protects a filmmaker’s vision while grounding it in real, practical intelligence. Working with him meant I could take aesthetic risks without losing my footing.”
Screenings of “Moonglow” at IFFR are from February 3 to 7, 2026, with filmmaker talkbacks on February 4 and 6.
The melodrama noir is not the only project of Daluyong at Rotterdam. Ang and director Whammy Alcazaren are personally pitching “Noodles, Our Love Was Instant and Forever”—Alcazaren’s follow-up to the globally acclaimed “Water Sports”—at IFFR’s co-production market CineMart from February 1 to 4.
“Raging,” the film about a young man’s quest for justice directed by Ryan Machado and produced by Ang for the 2025 Cinemalaya, makes its international premiere at the Panorama Section of the Berlinale. Lead star Elijah Canlas proudly announced on Instagram, “One of the toughest yet most rewarding journeys I’ve had working on a film for sure, extremely honored to be an actor and co-producer for this.”
Ang hopes that the selection of Filipino films in international filmfests will spark interest and support from the Philippine audience and stakeholders. “Thanks to co-productions and exposure at international film festivals, companies like Daluyong Studios are able to put a spotlight on Filipino creatives. I believe that by creating quality productions with Filipino talents—directors, writers, actors, cinematographers, editors, designers—we can entice people to come and watch in the cinemas.”
