More help for Filipino filmmakers

Organizing film festivals and special screenings of foreign movies here will soon be hassle-free with the help of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), its chairman Briccio Santos announced recently.

The FDCP has formed the Film Cultural Exchange Program (FCEP) to “open more doors for us to the international film community through partnerships with foreign embassies, consulates, official delegations and cultural institutions in the Philippines, as well as with programmers and directors of international film festivals.”

In a speech he made recently during the opening ceremony of “Pelicula,” or the Spanish Film Festival at the Greenbelt Cinemas in Makati City, Santos said the FCEP would provide technical assistance to foreign embassies in exhibiting their films here, as well as “venues of interaction between Filipino and foreign filmmakers.”

Santos added that, “in turn, we can seek the assistance of these embassies or consulates in facilitating the screening of Philippine films in various international venues.”

Through the program, the FDCP would also provide “classic and contemporary Filipino films for screenings, benefiting both the vast Filipino overseas community as well as foreign audiences,” Santos said.

The FCEP would also “serve as a channel that can arrange, negotiate, and facilitate international co-productions,” he said.

Santos pointed out that a “new policy” has been formed, with the help of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, in which “foreign films already endorsed by their respective embassies will now go through the FDCP without any restrictions, classifications or fees.”

Meanwhile, the FDCP is bringing its flagship program, Sineng Pambansa, to Ilocos Norte starting Tuesday until October 27. The event aims to revitalize the local film industry by promoting the works of Filipino filmmakers in the different regions.

Brillante Mendonza’s “Kinatay,” Soxy Topacio’s “Ded na Si Lolo” and “Martin Cabrera’s “Condo” are among the films to be screened at the Robinsons Ilocos Norte Mall and at the Mariano Marcos State University during the three-day event. Chito Roño’s “Emir” is the featured film in the mobile Sine ng Masa (People’s Cinema) program.

Workshops will also be conducted by actor and Film Academy of the Philippines chairman Leo Martinez, as well as indie filmmaker Mendoza. Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos is expected to attend the event.

Sineng Pambasa goes to Cotabato City in December.