Actor John Lloyd Cruz is the official portrait photographer of this year's Cinemalaya.
Festival organizers revealed this in a social media post.
The wrote, "PHOTOGRAPHER REVEAL! Every year, nag-iimbita ang Cinemalaya ng photographer para kumuha ng portraits ng mga filmmakers na kasali sa kompetisyon. This year, sa pambihirang pagkakataon, isang aktor ang humawak ng camera para kumuha ng larawan ng mga direktor. Yes, it’s the big swap we didn’t see coming!" .
"Dalawang araw nakasama ng mga CINEMALAYA 18 filmmakers ang aktor na si JOHN LLOYD CRUZ para kuhaan sila ng portraits. Sino kaya sa mga filmmakers ang qinilig?! Ugh! I don’t get jealous, I can’t be jealous, I’ve never been jealous - ngayon lang!"
On it's 18th year, the festival carries the theme “Breaking Through the Noise.”
It features 11 full-length films and 12 short features from Aug. 5 to 14.
On Instagram, director Ma-an L. Asuncion-Dagńalan shared her two cents working with Cruz again.
She said: "Tables are turned. I used to shoot him for promo plugs and Station IDs in ABS-CBN Global (The Filipino Channel) BUT now, he’s taking me a photo for Cinemalaya Gallery Exhibit."
According to her, it was really "great" to see Cruz doing what he does "love" - "to be freely creative."
Dagńalan's "Blue Room" is part of the feature films category.