The Diwa Film Showcase is a small community film festival in Seattle that celebrates the Filipino Spirit wherever it resides, by exhibiting independent films from the Philippine islands and beyond. Since its inaugural screening in 2014, the festival has featured diverse and insightful stories of the Philippines and the Filipino diaspora.
The showcase is spearheaded by Adrian Alarilla, a filmmaker and film scholar originally from Quezon City currently pursuing his PhD in History at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. The festival is made in cooperation with The Filipino Cultural Heritage Society of Washington (FCHSW) to complement the annual Pagdiriwang Philippine Festival.
The Pagdiriwang Philippine Festival has been held at the Seattle Center starting in 1987, and has since grown into the biggest festival of Filipino arts and culture in the Pacific Northwest. This celebration is a part of Seattle Center Festál, a series of cultural programs sponsored by the City of Seattle. Pagdiriwang provides a venue for Filipinos and non-Filipinos alike to learn about the culture. It is an ideal setting for presenting art, dance, music, history, literature, and with the addition of the Diwa Film Showcase, film, in order to promote better understanding of the Filipino cultural heritage.
Diwa Filipino Film Festival 