Presented during FDCP’s annual Film Ambassadors’ Night, the ‘Camera Obscura’ award recognizes outstanding representatives of the film industry whose works brought further recognition and appreciation for Philippine cinema, particularly in the international arena, and have inspired the national film industry into reaching greater heights. The award is presented at the final section of the event and concludes Film Ambassadors’ Night. Winners receive a 50,000 peso cash prize alongside their trophy from FDCP for their honors.

Supporters and icons of the Philippine entertainment industry, led by Batangas 6th District Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto, gathered on February 3, Monday, at the Congress Committee Hearing on House Bill (HB) 181 for the proposed occupational safety and health standards (OSHA) act for the film, television, and theater industry of the Philippines. HB 181, called the Eddie Garcia Act, is named after the film and television legend who passed away on June 20, 2019 after suffering a neck injury while taping for a television program and falling into coma.

Following a successful first run in the country last year, 2019’s ‘First Cut Lab Manila,’ a film lab that develops projects through a series of modules headed by industry experts, will be expanding into the broader ‘Full Circle Lab Philippines.’ This year’s Full Circle Lab will build on First Cut Lab Manila’s program—which placed a particular focus on feature-length fiction films—to create a holistic program covering the diverse forms of cinema. Full Circle Lab Philippines comprises of a Fiction, Series, Animation, Documentary, and First-Cut Lab.

The Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) has released the list of honorees for this year’s Film Ambassadors’ Night (FAN), to be held on February 9. This year, FDCP will be recognizing 66 honorees as ‘Film Ambassadors.’ The honorees consist of the many Filipino film industry artists, filmmakers, and films across genres and formats that received awards in film festivals abroad.

Film agencies from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Republic of Korea (ROK) have been coming together over the past few years to foster better ties within the region. As 2020 had just begun, film agency heads from  the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, and South Korea proved their dedication to the ASEAN-ROK convergence once more by participating in the 2020 1st ASEAN-ROK Film Agency Meeting at Novotel Singapore Clarke Quay from January 20 to 21.  

The Film Development Council of the Philippines’ Cinematheque Centres nationwide will be screening seven Japanese films starting this January and continuing onto March for Japan Film Week 2020. This film series continues a partnership between FDCP and the Japan Foundation, Manila which started the film week screenings in 2018.