The Film Development Center of the Philippines (FDCP) recently opened a Cinematheque Center at the Negros Museum annex building in Bacolod City. The P4.5 million 78-seat theater is the sixth of its kind in the country, with an earlier facility erected in Iloilo City.

“Cinematheque is an avenue that should empower regional filmmakers,” explained FDCP chairperson Liza Diño-Seguerra, saying the facility offers a platform to tell stories without having to visit Manila.

“FDCP’s goal is to really empower the regions,” she added. “Anchoring on [President Rodrigo Duterte’s] directive to decentralize everything that is ‘Manila-centric.’”

The project was accomplished through a partnership between FDCP and the Negros Cultural Foundation (NCF), which provided the space at the museum.

“It’s surreal to see Cinematheque Negros come to life,” Diño-Seguerra said. “It did not [take] very long [to complete] – just a matter of a little over a year.”

Lyn Gamboa of NCF called the Cinematheque Center the “beginning of real collaboration of all the arts in the country.”

Also present for the opening was acclaimed actor Joel Torre, who was invited for a masterclass series as part of the Sine Negrense Festival, another FDCP progam./WDJ