QCinema 2026 runs November 13 to 22. Tickets are ₱200 a screening, the full schedule is out, and badge holders’ priority booking closes tonight.
The 14th QCinema International Film Festival opens on Friday, November 13, with Mervin Malonzo’s animated feature Ella Arcangel: Awit ng Pangil at Kuko (Ballad of Tooth and Claw), and runs for 10 days across five Quezon City cinemas. The festival’s schedule lists 171 screenings of about 80 titles. Our lineup report covers the films. Below are the prices, the booking dates, the venues and the rules at the cinema.
What It Costs
Festival tickets are ₱200 per screening, the same price across sections and venues. A few screenings are free, and these are marked in the festival’s schedule.
Badge registration is closed. The QCinephile Festival Badge cost ₱2,000 for 10 screening credits, one film per credit, which comes to the same ₱200 a film. The badge’s extras were a merchandise set (a tote bag, shirt, cap, leather pouch, coaster and lanyard) and first access to seats. Registration opened at noon on October 29 and was set to close on October 30 or once supplies ran out. The festival has since posted that it is no longer issuing badges.
Booking Dates
- By November 7: badge holders received login details for the booking platform.
- November 9, 12 PM, to November 10, 11:59 PM: priority booking for badge holders only.
- General booking: opens after the priority window. QCinema has not announced the date and says seats may be more limited by then.
If you are going with friends, plan for separate tickets. Each badge is personal and non-transferable, one per person, and books one seat per screening. Companions buy their own tickets from the cinema, including through advance booking at participating venues. The ticket links in the festival’s schedule point either to qcinema.ph or to each cinema’s own site.
Rules for Badge Holders
Reserve by 6 PM the day before a screening. Reservations are final and cannot be changed or cancelled. If the festival cancels a screening, the credit goes back to your account. Unused credits are not refunded.
Credits do not cover every screening. Blocked screenings, special presentations and free screenings are excluded. Gala screenings can be booked with a credit, but seats are limited.
If you have not claimed your badge and merchandise yet, bring your claim QR code and a valid student or government-issued ID to the QCinema Desk in the lobby of any of the five festival cinemas.
On Screening Day
After you reserve, an e-ticket with a QR code arrives by email. It also appears under “Tickets” in your booking account. On the day of the screening, bring the e-ticket and your badge to the QCinema Desk in the cinema lobby and exchange them for a physical ticket. You need both.
Physical tickets can only be claimed on the day of the screening, so you cannot collect a week’s worth in one visit. Each QR code works once and is tied to your account, so keep it off social media. The festival advises arriving early to give yourself time at the desk before the film starts.
Where to Watch
The opening-night screening of Ella Arcangel on November 13 is listed at 7 PM at the Quezon City M.I.C.E. Center in Quezon Memorial Circle. Regular screenings start the next day.
- Gateway Cineplex 18, Araneta City, Cubao: November 14 to 22
- Ayala Malls Cinemas TriNoMa: November 16 to 18
- Robinsons Movieworld Galleria: November 16 to 18
- Fisher Mall Cinemas: November 19 to 21
- SM City Fairview Cinemas: November 19 to 21
Gateway is the festival’s hub and the only venue that screens for the whole run. The other four take turns. TriNoMa and Galleria carry the middle of the week, and Fisher Mall and SM City Fairview take the late-festival stretch for viewers in the northern part of the city. If a film you want plays only once outside Cubao, book around that date first. The festival closes on November 22 with Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Look Back.
Planning Your Schedule
QCinema’s interactive schedule works on phones as well as desktop. You can filter screenings by section, cinema, genre, country, runtime, MTRCB rating and premiere status, and by whether the filmmakers stay for a Q&A. Add titles to your own list, and the tool flags screenings that overlap. You can export the list to your phone’s calendar, print it or share it through a link. Your picks are saved in the browser, so download a backup if you plan to switch devices.
Check the ratings before you bring younger viewers. Ella Arcangel is animated, but it is set during the government’s drug war and is rated R-13.
The five films made with this year’s festival grants screen in the QCShorts programs. Our report on the QCShorts grantees covers what each one is about.
One early look worth circling: Club Kid, Jordan Firstman’s comedy-drama about a New York club promoter who learns he has a 10-year-old son, gets a one-time screening at Gateway Cineplex 18 on November 14. Firstman wrote, directed and stars in it, and it screens under QCSelects as part of the festival’s Genre’teurs selection. It opens nationwide in Philippine cinemas on November 18.
Field Notes
- Dates: November 13 to 22, 2026
- Tickets: ₱200 per screening
- Festival badge: registration closed
- Badge priority booking: closes November 10, 11:59 PM
- General booking: date to be announced
- Schedule and booking: qcinema.ph