NCCA opens call for proposals, conducts roadshow for 2027 Competitive Grants Program

Tapping Indigenous Peoples (IP) youths to participate as cultural practices gets transferred to their generation, strenghtening and digitizing the cultural database to combat intellectual property infringements with the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and getting music and the arts back into early education were just some of the topics and pressing concerns discussed as the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) officially kicked off its Call for Proposals for the Calendar Year 2027 Competitive Grants Program.

Artists, cultural workers, researchers, local government units, educational institutions, indegenous people's organizations, non-government organizations, and other cultural stakeholers to submit project proposals from over 100 specific project categories that contribute to the peservation, promotion, development, and dissemination of Philippine arts and culture.

NCCA Chair and Executive Director
Eric B. Zerrudo, PhD

Anchored on Republic Act No. 7356, the Competitive Grants Program remains one of the Commission's core mandates in supporting cultural development across the country through the National Endowment Fund for Culture and the Arts (NEFCA). The program provides financial assistance to projects that uphold Filipino creativity, safeguard cultural heritage, strenghten cultural communities, and expand access to arts and culture nationwide.

For the 2027 cycle, the NCCA encourages proposals that respond to the country's evolving cultural landscape while remaining aligned with the Commission's mandate and the strategic priorities of its four Subcommissions—Arts; Cultural Heritage; Cultural Dissemination; and Culural Communities and Traditional Arts. Through this annual program, the Commission continues to empower communities and institutions in creating meaningful cultural initiatives that enrich national identity and promote inclusive development.

Interested proponents must first secure an NCAA accrediation to ensure grants eligibility. Proponents must not have any unliquidated or derogatory records with the NCCA or any government agency. Complete project proposals maybe sumbitted through email or courier.

From L to R: Bernan Joseph Corpuz, May-i Padilla, Dr. Maria Alexandra Chua,
Dr. Lordinio Vergara, Emma Ray, Arwin Paul Lingat

The deadline for submission of proposals is 31 August 2026, Monday 11:59 PM (Philippine Standard Time) as posted in the official NCCA Website.

To assist prospective applicants, te NCCA is also set to conduct nationwide Competitive Grants Progam Roadshows, provide orientation and technical assistance sessions on project proposal writing and preparation, eligibility requirements, funding priorities, and the general application process. The roadshows aim to make the grants program more accessible by reaching cultural practictioners and organizations across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The schedule of the roadshows is as follows:

July 21, 2026

National Capital Region

Online

Luzon Cluster

Baguio City

July 27, 2026

Visayas Cluster

Bacolod City

July 28, 2026

Mindanao Cluster

Davao City

QR codes can be scanned for pre-registration while exact venues fo all roadshows will be announced soon on the NCCA Facebook page.

Applicants are encouraged to carefully review the guidelines, proposal ctegories, and documentary requirements before submission.

Kontragapi

For the complete material on the Competitive Grants Program for 2027, visit: https://ncca.gov.ph/ncca-competitive-grants-program/

Myth and folklore at the 7th Tingin Southeast Asian Film Festival at the Shang

Southeast Asian cinema exploring different folklores and myths get the spotlight at the 7th Tingin Southeast Asian Film Festival happening on August 17-18, 2024 at the Red Carpet Cinema in Shangri-La Plaza Mall.

With this year's theme of Enchantments for a Fragile World, a curated lineup of six full length films and four short films from the SEA region will be screened, for free, at the Red Carpet Cinema.

The film festival, the only one in the country showcasing movies from the Southeast Asian region, is part of the celebration for ASEAN month.

The full-length film selection for the 7th Tingin Southeast Asian Film Festival are as follows:

Dreaming & Dying (Singapore)

Director: Nelson Yeo

Three middle-aged friends are forced to confront their inner demons as a long-buried love triangle between them resurfaces.

Golden Dragon (Cambodia)

Director: Boren Chhith

In a coastal city, a hospital patient investigates the connections between his father's death and his dreams which overcome him.

In My Mother's Skin (Philippines)

Director: Kenneth Dagatan

A young girl desperate to cure her dying mother seeks out a mysterious fairy who gives her a magical insect. Unbeknownst to her, the fairy turns out to be deceitful and plans to devour them all.

The Long Walk (Laos)

Director: Mattie Do

An old scavenger living on the fringes of a near-future society exploits a ghostly companion's ability to traverse time, hoping to prevent his mother's suffering from a terminal illness.

Memoryland (Vietnam)

Director: Kim Quy Bui

A fatal workplace accident, a lonely young widow in a village filled with ghosts, and a couple planning for death; three stories of loss slowly intersect in this eloquent hybrid film.

Of Other Tomorrows Never Known (Indonesia)

Director: Natasha Tontey

Guided by the Minahasa’s influence, this speculative fiction of mystical belief interlaces care and ancestral dialogues, embracing a healing renewal across numinous, material and technological realms.

Once Upon a Time There was a Mom (Myanmar)

Director: Lin Htet Aung

Echoing the story of Vessantara Jātaka, the film depicts a man’s post-widowhood transformation and Myanmar's complex past through a dysfunctional family.

Part of Me (Brunei)

Director: Hazrul Aizan

Haz, an aspiring singer, is conflicted between chasing his dreams and following his family’s expectations. He struggles to see which is right for his path, and finds himself stuck between listening to his confidante, Atiyyah, who believes his happiness is the key to life or his brother, Halim, who believes guaranteed success is the key to life.

Snow in Midsummer (Malaysia)

Director: Chong Keat Aun

For 49 years, Ah Eng and Dou E were trapped in the "513" timeline. In 1969, post-election tensions gripped Kuala Lumpur when the Cantonese street opera "Snow in June" showcased Dou E, portrayed by the troupe master. Amid a riot, Ah Eng and her mother sought refuge with the troupe, losing contact with her brother and father. In 2018, Ah Eng returned to Kuala Lumpur and unexpectedly encountered "Dou E" at the cemetery.

Worship (Thailand)

Director: Uruphong Raksasad

Crisscrossing geographical and spiritual latitudes of Thailand, WORSHIP is a rapt sensory immersion into the ritualized power of faith and how it shapes the courses of people’s lives. From North to South and East to West, the documentary wraps us in the cloud of incense smoke as it explores Buddhist rites, animist rituals, shamanistic divinations, processions of flagellants, and guru monks’ vibrant and eccentric blessing ceremonies, and along the way investigates the fine line that separates devotion from superstition and transcendence from decadence. Farmers, villagers, monks, mediums, temple hustlers and devotees of all stripes make up this honest anthropological portrait of Thailand’s at its most faithful and hallucinatory.

Attendees for the opening night on August 17, 2024, 6:00 PM are encouraged to dress according to the theme with the best one winning a cash prize. Free movie snacks also await early birds in select screenings.

Scheduled after the screening of the closing film In My Mother's Skin is a talk-back session with the cast and crew led by director Kenneth Dagatan and producers Bianca Balbuena & Bradley Liew.

Here is the schedule for the festival.

August 17, 2024

12:00 PM Golden Dragon

12:50 PM Once Upon a Time There was a Mom

1:50 PM Worship

3:50 PM Snow in Midsummer

7:00 PM The Long Walk

August 18, 2024

12:00 PM Part of Me

1:10 PM Of Other Tomorrows Never Known

2:55 PM Memoryland

5:25 PM Dreaming & Dying

7:00 PM In My Mother's Skin

The 7th Tingin Southeast Asian Film Festival is presented by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Shangri-La Plaza's Red Carpet.

NCCA presents concert of winners at the Met

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts presents Muskapuluan 2023: Bunga ng Galing sa Musika, an evening of music performanced by various competition winners happening on March 27, 2023, 6:00 PM at the Metropolitan Theater.

Performers in this evening include Benedict Magboo (2022 NAMCYA Junior Piano Category 1st Prize winner), Danikka Louise Dy (2022 Rocky Mountain Music Competition Spring Season, Voice Competition Advanced Grand Prize), Deiniel Hermogenes Sanchez (2022 NAMCYA Open Brass Category 1st Prize winner), Esang de Torres (The Voice Kids Season 2 3rd place), Mary Anne Espina (1985 NAMCYA Piano Category B Honorable Mention, 1989 NAMCYA Piano Category C Honorable Mention), Theodore Tan (2022 NAMCYA Junior Strings Category 1st Prize winner), Division of Tayabas City Rondalla (2022 NAMCYA Junior Rondalla Category 1st Prize winner), and Ocampo's BETIS Band 46 (2022 NAMCYA Symphonic Band Category 1st Prize winner).

Admission to the concert is free. Scan the QR code in the poster image or visit bit.ly/Musikapuluan2023 to reserve tickets.