Cinema Rehiyon is a film festival that showcases the works of Filipino filmmakers from all over the Philippines. This year, Cinema Rehiyon is guided by the theme “Cinemas of home.” Established and budding filmmakers will grace the event as well as film enthusiasts, critics and movie stars.
This year, the flagship project of NCCA’s Cinema Committee is done in partnership with pelikuLAB and the UPLB Foundation, Inc. (UPLBFI), with UPLB Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts (OICA) as its major sponsor.
Aside from the numerous films that will be screened in UPLB, the 2013 Short Film Competition is included in Cinema Rehiyon’s list of activities. The contest will be held on February 5 and will coincide with the screening of other Filipino movies.
Live performances are also expected during the festival as delegates and spectators will have a trip to the Philippine High School for the Arts. It will not only be about the visuals of cinema because there will also be a program on film, dance and theater.
Filmmakers, critics and the audience of Cinema Rehiyon will have a chance to mingle with each other and talk about the issues that concern filmmaking in the Philippines. Topics such as “Master Class in Directing or Acting,” “Writing for Film (Film Journalism, Bloggers and Scholarship),” “Redefining Philippine Cinema: The Case of Regional Cinemas,” “Practices of Regional Filmmaking” and “Regional Film Festivals and Film programming” could be possibly discussed. The film festival proper will be capped off with a dinner and swimming party.
Cinema Rehiyon is annually done by the NCCA as a promotion of the Filipinos artistry in the field of Cinema. It also aims to bring different works of Filipino filmmakers to different audiences and communities. It is a platform for filmmakers to exhibit their works and interact with other filmmakers and stakeholders.
During the fourth Cinema Rehiyon, the festival was successfully done in Bacolod city hosted by Bacollywood and is headed by Manny Montelibano, director of Cinema Rehiyon 2012. The first two years of Cinema Rehiyon was held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines that revolves around the theme “Alternativo: Films from the Other Philippines.” In 2011, Cinema Rehiyon happened in Davao city with the tagline “Forging Philippine Cinediversity.”
The NAM was initiated in 1991 when Presidential Proclamation 683 was signed declaring February as National Arts Month. the The NCCA, the country’s prime agency for the arts and culture, has been spearheading the celebration, initially with activities centering around the National Capital Region until they spread out to the regions. Currently, activities of the NCCA during NAM are held in different parts of the Philippines.
The different NAM activities of the NCCA were consolidated and given a certain format in 2007, coming up with the PAF. Now, the PAF is mainly comprised of the flagship projects of the seven committees of the NCCA’s Subcommission on the Arts--architecture, cinema, dance, literature, music, theater and the visual arts.