MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Facing the widespread suspension of production shoots and the consequent financial stress on film-workers placed due to the COVID-19 quarantine measures, a group of Filipino filmmakers have come together to create the fundraising effort ‘Lockdown Cinema Club’ as a means of supporting the many vulnerable members of the Filipino independent filmmaking community.
A combined effort led by filmmakers Carl Chavez, Camille Aragona, Mackie Galvez, Alemberg Ang, Xeph Suarez, Patricia Sumagui, Ilsa Malsi, Mao Fadul, and with volunteers from the UP film organizations UP Cineastes’ Studio, UP Cinema Arts Society and UP Cinema, ‘Lockdown Cinema Club’ launched on March 20 with the tagline “Watch all you want, and give what you can!” The group released a wide variety of short films from the Philippines and neighboring Southeast Asian countries (Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Singapore) for free online streaming open to all. Since then, the club has released three “volumes” worth of films, including projects from various renowned filmmakers such as Lav Diaz, Erik Matti, Jerrold Tarog and more.
Through Lockdown Cinema Club, the group seeks to harness the affective power of cinema, allowing it to go beyond its artistic medium and become a mode of action. Discussing his motivations for founding Lockdown Cinema Club, Carl Chavez said “Cinema has always been about story and images. It is so powerful that it can wake, shake and stir. In this time of pandemic, it is a great time to utilize and go beyond that—to reach out, to help, and to take action.”
With this in mind, the club brought in figures from different departments to ensure the representation of filmmaking’s different and diverse aspects. Producer Alemberg Ang told FDCP: “When I saw Carl’s post about helping film workers, I messaged him to hear more…From there, we involved more people. We made sure that there is one representative from each department so we can reach out to almost everyone working in film.”
Since its initial selections of short films, the project has increased its database with the release of Lockdown Cinema Club volume three, containing nine full-length feature films. The push for diversification also led Lockdown Cinema Club to partner with the Directors’ Guild of the Philippines Inc. (DGPI), the Lupon ng Pilipinong Sinematograpo, and the Ricky Lee Film Scriptwriting Workshop. Aside from the free screenings, the club has collaborated with these groups to share screenplays from a number of acclaimed local films and to hold a free online writing workshop series.
Speaking to the Philippine Inquirer, DGPI president Paolo Villaluna said: “This is a time when our community must come together to ensure that the less fortunate among us do not get left behind. We all decided to be a united front, [and] support the efforts of Lockdown Cinema Club.”
Alongside the free projects, Lockdown Cinema Club included donation links and a brief letter in which they described their motivations: “Fellow independent Filipino film workers displaced due to the lockdown will benefit from any contributions made through this project. We hope we can be partners with you in this endeavor, and that hand-in-hand we can help our film workers during these troubling times.” The funding received through Lockdown Cinema Club goes directly to the various members of the Filipino independent filmmaking community.
Through this fundraising effort, Lockdown Cinema Club will provide 2,000 pesos each to its various beneficiaries. As of March 28, with just over a week since its launch, the group had already raised 1,924,882 pesos. With this funding, they have been able to grow their beneficiaries from the initial 500 to over 1000. Aiming for transparency in their efforts, Lockdown Cinema Club also released its donations and beneficiaries online with 302,000 pesos donated to 151 beneficiaries since March 28.
Lockdown Cinema Club joins the recent FDCP launched DEAR ACTION! Program in its effort to alleviate the financial stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic. In these efforts, we can see how now is the best time for the private and public sector to unite and ensure the survival and continued prosperity of the film industry. By providing the most vulnerable members of the film industry support in these difficult times we begin to put this joint partnership into motion.
For more info on Lockdown Cinema Club visit:
https://www.facebook.com/lockdowncinemaclub
For more information on the DEAR! ACTION program visit:
https://www.fdcp.ph/dear-program
