Consul Cunanan (far left) with WPFF Celebrity Hosts Vivien Tan (2nd from left) and Sarge Lacuesta (3rd from left)
On June 29, Consul Cunanan represented Georgia at the opening of the first World Premieres Film Festival (WPFF) at One Esplanade at the SM Mall of Asia Complex. The event was organized by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP).
The WPFF brings together different countries, through film cultural exchange partnerships. Participating countries are asked to each field a new film yet to be screened elsewhere prior to June 2014 from a director of note for a world premiere in the Philippines. Feature films will vie for top awards, have red carpet screenings at the country’s posh cinemas, all with film luminaries and celebrities in attendance, and are set for release and distribution beyond the festival run through the Philippines’ largest cinema chain.
The WPFF is an integral part of the FDCP’s Film Cultural Exchange Program whereby FDCP partners with Embassies and their cultural arms in the country for events showcasing the cinemas of various nations. The FDCP works closely with the Consulate of Georgia in the Philippines (NL), led by Consul Cunanan, who has carried out multiple activities and projects to promote Georgian cinema in the Philippines.
Consul Cunanan has already organized two Georgian Film Festivals, in partnership with the National Commission for Culture and Arts and the National Parks Development Committee. He is also holding a special Georgian film screening on July 14, in cooperation with De La Salle University, and launching a nationwide Georgian Film Roadshow, with the FDCP and the Georgian National Film Center, which will start in Baguio City on July 22. The Roadshow will take the Georgian movies to Iloilo City in August and further afield to Davao and Zamboanga in November and December.
Consul Cunanan is working closely with the FDCP for the participation of a Georgian film and producer in the 2015 World Premieres Film Festival, as well as the showing of a Filipino movie at the Tbilisi International Film Festival on December 1 – 7, 2014.
Consul Cunanan with FDCP Chairman Briccio Santos
