By Jade C. Zaldivar
The Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), responsible for bringing the fourth installment of the Hollywood Bourne series to the country, is promoting the city to become a future location for similar movie-making ventures.
An official from the FDCP yesterday said the city is ideal as a filming location.
“We are enthusiastic about making Davao City the next film location for big productions. We want to break the concentration of filmmaking in Metro Manila. The question shouldn’t be ‘Why Davao?’ but ‘Why not Davao’. Davao is very beautiful,” said Peter Philip Lat, coordinator of the upcoming Davao International Film Festival set in June this year.
“It’s very peaceful in Davao, the people are friendly, it’s clean, the local government is cooperative, there are a lot of untapped talents, and geographically there’s a lot to see. May bukid, may dagat na malapit,” Lat said in an interview at the city hall.
Lat, a Dabawenyo himself, said the FDCP is eyeing the city as a future “film hub” in Mindanao, reason for their decision to invest on a film cinémathèque here estimated to cost P1.5 million worth of renovation and construction.
“We will be putting up a 150-seater cinémathèque beside the Pasalubong Center along Palma Gil St. This is just one of our efforts to promote filmmaking in Mindanao. We will be bringing in top directors and actors later this June for the first Davao International Film Festival (DIFF),” Lat said.
Other than the city, the FDCP also plans to put up a cinema hub in Zamboanga within the year to add to their hubs in Baguio and Ilo-ilo.
The DIFF, which will be in partnership with the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. and the local government, is adopting the local tourism slogan “Life is here” to DIFF’s slogan :“Film is Life. Life is here.”
Mobile cinema
Lat yesterday represented the FDCP in a ceremony presenting a mobile cinema to Mayor Sara Duterte.
The mobile cinema will be making stops in barangays, parks, and avenues, showing a total of 10 films for the duration of the 75th Araw ng Davao.
“The films will range from as long ago as 1930s to the present. Films with FPJ, Sharon, about Zaboanga all of which were beautifully directed in order to promote Filipino films,” Lat said.
Before coming here, the mobile cinema was in Zamboanga City as part of its nationwide tour.
