Sari Dalena film retrospective opens 6 March at UPFI

A retrospective of films by Sari Dalena will run at multiple venues across the Philippines from March to May 2026.

Titled “Counter-Archives of a Film Guerrera: A Retrospective of Sari Dalena’s Cinema,” the program will showcase Dalena’s documentaries, hybrid works, experimental films, and video art. The retrospective is curated by Patrick F. Campos.

Screenings will be held at the University of the Philippines Film Institute, Mowelfund Film Institute, University of the Philippines Mindanao, The Green House Cinema, and Mindanao State University–Iligan Institute of Technology.

The program opens on 6 March at the UPFI Cine Adarna with screenings of Memories of a Forgotten War and Cinemartyrs. The opening coincides with Women’s Month and marks 120 years since the 1906 Bud Dajo massacre, a historical event referenced in both films. A discussion will follow the screening.

An exhibition titled “Notes Toward a Guerrera Cinema” will run from 28 March to 7 April at the UPFI Ishmael Bernal Gallery. It will feature early 16mm shorts, storyboards, sketches, and other materials from Dalena’s filmmaking practice, alongside related paintings and sculptures. The exhibition opens on 28 March, the same day Dalena will lead a masterclass under UPFI’s Sinemaestra series.

Additional screenings and events are scheduled throughout the retrospective. On 7 March, Puting Paalam and Memories of a Forgotten War will screen at The Green House Cinema in Davao. Programs at UPFI on 18–19 March will include Rigodon, Ishma, and Himala Ngayon. On 28 March, UPFI will screen The Guerrilla Is a Poet in conjunction with the masterclass and exhibition opening.

On 30 March, UPFI will present Ang Kababaihan ng Malolos and History of the Underground. The program continues on 6 April at the University of the Philippines Mindanao with a screening of Guerrera and other works, followed by a discussion.

Screenings at Mowelfund Film Institute on 15 and 22 April will feature a shorts program, Guerrera, and Jamming on an Old Saya. The retrospective concludes on 6 May at Mindanao State University–Iligan Institute of Technology with Memories of a Forgotten War and Cinemartyrs, followed by a panel discussion.

Details on admission and reservations will be announced by the respective venues.