MANILA, PHILIPPINES, 25 MARCH 2022 — In its second year, The Philippine Embassy in Portugal, in partnership with the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), will be holding Cine Filipina Lisbon in celebration of  National Women’s Month on March 25-27, 2022 via the Agency’s online streaming platform, the FDCP Channel.

The film showing is open to Filipino communities in Portugal and four other African consulates of the embassy namely Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, and São Tomé and Príncipe through the FDCP’s Philippine Embassies Assistance Program (PEAP). 

Cine Filipina is an FDCP initiative for the National Women’s Month aiming to honor women and advocate women empowerment. This puts the spotlight on not only the women filmmakers in the industry, but also on the experiences of women in society as seen through women-centered films. 

The short films that will be presented were part of the CineMarya Women Short Film Festival; while the feature films are part of FDCP’s wide collection of award-winning classic Filipino films. 

This free streaming is the first PEAP partnership that will be powered by the Agency’s streaming platform. The 2-day FDCP Channel access of the following films will be available for Portugal and other parts of Africa users under the Virtual Cinema tab: 

Short Films 

• Winged Dreams to the Blue Heavens by Maria Escasa
• Dalaginding na si Isang by Nigel Santos 
• Adira by Jorzheema Hamid 

Feature Films

• Insiang by Lino Brocka 
• Ma’Rosa by Brillante Mendoza

“Cine Filipina aims to foster more than just cultural appreciation, it is also an avenue to  strengthen our ties with other countries, especially where we have Filipino communities. Films can be an effective medium to showcase our country’s rich culture and history. Through film events such as these, we get to show a bit of how women engage in our society and their irreplaceable role in moving it forward.” FDCP Chairperson and CEO, Liza Diño said.

In bringing this event closer to Filipinos across the world, this inter-agency project aims to be a tool in inspiring and raising awareness based on the National Women’s Month theme: We Make Change Work for Women.

With the continuous support from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and DFA Office of Public and Cultural Diplomacy, the FDCP through the Philippine Embassies Assistance Program (PEAP), has been creating more film-related activities to expand reach and appreciation of Philippine Cinema across the world.

The Philippine Embassy in Lisbon, is one of more than 30 embassies and consulates that has been an ally of the FDCP in strengthening cultural ties through films. In 2019, National Artist for Film Kidlat Tahimik was the guest of honor in the Philippine Cinema Retrospective in Lisbon, which was also made possible through FDCP’s PEAP and Spotlight: Philippines Program.