The 150-seater movie facility of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) is scheduled to open on March 17, a day after the 75th Araw ng Dabaw.
Peter Philip Lat, coordinator of the Davao City Film Festival under FDCP, told the TIMES in an interview that the facility dubbed as Cinematheque is currently being established beside Pasalubong Center near the People’s Park along Palma Gil St.
He said the old building of the Department of Education is used as the site of the movie center. The renovation of the old building to become as Cinematheque amounts to around P1.2 million to P1.5 million.
“The facility will offer free movies to the public. It is one way to make the Filipinos appreciate Filipino films,” he said.
The establishment of the Cinematheque took place after the FDCP and the city government signed a deed of usufruct for the film council to utilize the 173-square meter lot near the Pasalubong Center.
The facility will house both a movie archive and a 150-seater small cinema with a gallery showcasing the film history of the country. It would also serve as venue for the independent filmmakers.
The movie center will be the second Cinematheque in the country, next to the 75-seater facility in Baguio which was opened last year. It is part of the FDCP’s Sineng Pambansa program to “bring Filipino films to Filipinos.”
The film council is also set to open Cinematheque facilities in Marawi City and Zamboanga within the first quarter of the year.
Aside from Cinematheque, the FDCP will set-up a mobile cinema to have more free viewing of Filipino movies in the city on March 16.
Lat said the mobile cinema that carries Filipino movies will be roaming around the three Congressional districts in the city. “Hopefully if Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio would permit, we will also have a mobile cinema inside People’s Park,” he added.
