Situating Regional Cinemas in Philippine National Cinema Discourse Katrina Ross A. Tan Regional filmmaking in the Philippines, or filmmaking outside Manila that uses local talents and non-Tagalog-based Filipino languages, has gained strong presence not only in the national but also in international film communities. It has grown into a movement as evidenced by the yearly increase in regional film productions and the national awards given to them. A national film festival devoted to regional cinemas has been in existence for six years. Neighbors in Asia have also recognized them by including regional films in their festivals. Very recently, the 4th Southeast Asian Film Festival in Singapore screened films from Mindanao, south of the Philippines. Given this increasing strong presence of regional cinemas in the local, national and international level, it is imperative to investigate how it engages in the discourse of Philippine’s national cinema. To answer these questions, the emergence of regional films will be discussed, as well as examples of regional films to situate regional cinemas in the contemporary landscape of film culture in the country. It is posited that regional cinemas challenge the notion of a national cinema based on the Manila-centric commercial and independent cinemas. Regional cinema constitutes the national cinema, giving it a more inclusive and dynamic character by highlighting the pluralistic cultures of the Philippines. The study also posits that in the personal level, regional films express one’s identity to the locality where the filmmakers are situated. These films then constitute a national identity that recognizes a plurality of cultures hence, a plurality of the country’s national cinema.