FDCP marks International Women’s Month with photo competition, film screenings

To celebrate March as International Women’s Month, the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) is holding several activities aimed to put women’s empowerment in the spotlight.

Kicking off the celebration will be a photo contest, called Panay Pinay Potograpiya, which features women who have demonstrated significant roles in promoting change; and the launch of Panay Pinay Pelikula with the screening of Ganap na Babae on March 8. Panay Pinay Pelikula screenings will run from March 12 to 18, 2017.

“Planting Seeds: The Future of Philippine Cinema,” a film-education symposium for film educators and students that started in the regions, will culminate in its Manila leg from March 9 to 11. The cinematic cultivators include award-winning directors Joel Lamangan, Jose Javier Reyes, and Cathy Garcia-Molina.

The FDCP has also partnered with Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) to mount the CineJuana series of free film screenings at the Cinematheque Centre Manila from March 20 to 24.

These came after the council partnered with Instituto Cervantes to screen women-centered Spanish documentaries from March 4 to 25, also at the cinematheque.

Dubbed “Espacio Femenino (Women Space),” the documentaries highlight the role of women as drivers of political and social change. These are Las Constituyentes by Oliva Acosta, which was screened on March 4; Excluidas del Paraiso by Esther Perez de Eulate, to be shown on March 11; La Fiesta de Otros by Ana Serret Ituarte, on March 18; and El Lugar de Fresas by Maite Vitoria Daneris, on March 25. All shall be shown at 6 p.m.

“We are proud and excited to celebrate International Women’s Month through our activities. We hope that through our program, Filipino women audience, filmmakers, and educators will be inspired and encouraged to not just celebrate their femininity but also use it to effect positive change in our society,” FDCP Chairman Liza Diño said.

For more information, visit the Film Development Council of the Philippines and Cinematheque Centre Manila Facebook pages or send an e-mail to cinematheque@fdcp.ph.