On February 18, 2016, Consul (a.h.) Thelmo Cunanan Jr established the FIRST Georgian Film Archive in the Philippines at the De La Salle University Libraries, the leading institution of its kind in the country.
Consul Cunanan turned over the films to DLSU Libraries Director Ana Maria B. Fresnido. The movies, a collection of contemporary masterpieces, including cinema short films, from the best filmmakers in Georgia, were courtesy of the Georgian National Film Center (GNFC), a strategic partner of Consul Cunanan in promoting Georgian cinema in the Philippines and in other parts of the world.
The donation OF two dozen movies will form the nucleus of DLSU’s newly-created Georgian Collection, which will be available for viewing by the university’s students and faculty as well as interested film goers from all over the country. DLSU will aggressively promote the new Georgian Film Collection with its partner-institutions in the Philippines. “We would like to thank Consul Cunanan and the GNFC for establishing the first Georgian Film Collection in the Philippines and for choosing DLSU as its home,” said Ms. Fresnido. “We will support these initiatives aimed at strengthening film appreciation from this fascinating country.”
The films have already been shown in theatres all over the country, through numerous film festivals organized by Consul Cunanan in partnership with the Film Development Council of the Philippines. To date, Consul Cunanan has organized almost a dozen Georgian film festivals in the Philippines, which have taken the movies to Baguio, Manila, Iloilo, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, and Zamboaga cities, among others. Consul Cunanan was also responsible for the successful showing of Georgian movies at the World Premieres Film Festival, the Philippines’ most prestigious cinematic event.
Consul Cunanan enjoys a close working relationship with DLSU as part of his initiatives to build greater academic ties between Georgia and the Philippines. He has already established the FIRST Georgian literature collection at the Rizal Library of the Ateneo de Manila University.