Rafael Manuel’s award-winning feature debut will represent the Philippines in the Best International Feature Film category.
Rafael Manuel’s Filipiñana has been selected as the Philippines’ official entry to the 99th Academy Awards.
The Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) announced the selection through its official Instagram account on Sunday, September 13, following the postponement of its originally scheduled September 4 reveal. The film will represent the country in the race for Best International Feature Film at the 2027 Oscars.
Set over the course of one day, Filipiñana follows 17-year-old Isabel (Jorrybell Agoto) on her first day as a tee girl at an exclusive country club.
The film premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision. It later screened at the Berlinale before returning to the Philippines as the closing film of this year’s Cinemalaya.
Why The Philippines Chose Filipiñana
Filipiñana was chosen from eight films submitted for consideration. The other contenders were Carl Joseph Papa’s 58th; Jade Castro’s All the Things I Leave You (Patawid); Sigrid Andrea P. Bernardo’s I’mPerfect; Raymond Red’s Manila’s Finest; Jerrold Tarog’s Quezon; Lawrence Fajardo’s Silenced Nights; and Jun Robles Lana’s Sisa.
The selection was made by a committee of Filipino film industry experts approved by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, convened by the Film Academy of the Philippines. The submissions were evaluated based on artistic merit, cultural relevance, and international campaign potential.
In choosing Filipiñana, the committee cited its “strong visual style but more importantly its incisive examination of class, power, labor, and social realism, as well as its growing international profile.” It also considered the integrity of the film and its producers’ capacity to understand an Oscars campaign.
Those questions of power and labor shaped our own reflection on the film after its closing-night screening at Cinemalaya. Before the screening, Manuel invited audiences to “watch with our ears,” explaining that he had structured Filipiñana like a song.
Rather than relying on a conventional score to tell viewers how to feel, the film allows the country club to create its own rhythm. We hear clubs cutting through the air, sprinklers turning across the grass, and golf balls knocking together as they are washed. By drawing back the music, Manuel leaves the golfers’ synchronized movements suspended between choreography and threat.
As our review concluded: “When the film ended, no line of dialogue echoed in my mind; it was sprinklers turning across the grass.”
What Happens Next For Filipiñana
Filipiñana will not be the only entry in this year’s international feature race with Tagalog dialogue. James J. Robinson’s First Light was selected as Australia’s official submission. It is the first Tagalog-language film to represent Australia at the Oscars.
The selections make Filipiñana and First Light their respective countries’ official submissions, but neither is an Oscar nominee yet. Each film must first advance to the 15-title shortlist before potentially becoming one of the category’s five nominees.
No Philippine submission has ever reached the Best International Feature Film shortlist or received a nomination. Filipiñana now begins its campaign toward potentially becoming the first.
The shortlist will be announced on December 15, 2026, followed by the nominations on January 21, 2027. The 99th Academy Awards will take place on March 14, 2027, or March 15 in the Philippines, at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.
Photos courtesy of the Kino Lorber official website
Frequently Asked Questions
Rafael Manuel’s Filipiñana has been selected as the Philippines’ official entry to the 99th Academy Awards. It will represent the country in the Best International Feature Film category.
Set over the course of one day, Filipiñana follows 17-year-old Isabel, played by Jorrybell Agoto, on her first day as a tee girl at an exclusive country club.
Filipiñana was selected from eight films submitted for consideration. The committee cited its strong visual style and its incisive examination of class, power, labor, and social realism, as well as its growing international profile. The selection also considered the film’s integrity and its producers’ capacity to understand an Oscars campaign.
Filipiñana premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision. It later screened at the Berlinale before returning to the Philippines as the closing film of this year’s Cinemalaya.
Filipiñana must first advance to the 15-title Best International Feature Film shortlist before it can potentially become one of the category’s five nominees. The shortlist will be announced on December 15, 2026, followed by the nominations on January 21, 2027. The 99th Academy Awards will take place on March 14, 2027, or March 15, in the Philippines.
