Oro moves to boost support for local filmmakers

To strengthen support for local filmmakers, sustain film production, and expand opportunities in the film industry, Vice Mayor Bebot Rodriguez and City Councilor Maximo T. Rodriguez III proposed the Cagayan de Oro Local Film Development Ordinance.

The proposed ordinance aims to establish an institutional framework for developing the city’s local film sector, including support for filmmakers, training and education, film exhibition, networking, and preservation of local film heritage.

The measure was supported by Cine de Oro Film Festival Director Joe Bacus, who said the city’s local film sector needs greater support and more opportunities for local stories to reach wider audiences.

“Actually, wala ta’y industry. Mas naa pa’y industry ang wedding ug photography, pero wala pa ta’y film,” Bacus said during the ordinance’s presentation at the Committee meeting on Tourism and Sister City Relations, chaired by Councilor Joyleen Mercedes “Girlie” Balaba.

Bacus said film production in the city declined following the pandemic due to lack of support, rather than a lack of talent.

Vice Mayor Bebot said CdeO already has a film heritage worth preserving and that the city government has a responsibility to support people in the creative sector.

“The (proposed) ordinance does not seek to create a film culture from nothing; it seeks to give our local film industry an institutional structure to reach talent, create work, exhibit, and reach wide audiences,” she said.

The proposed ordinance aims the creation of the Cagayan de Oro Film Academy (COFA) and annual Metro Cagayan de Oro Film Festival to provide a regular platform for exhibition, education, networking, and alternative distribution of local films.

Vice Mayor Rodriguez said the festival would also provide an avenue for films about Cagayan de Oro, Region X, and Mindanao, while helping sustain continuing education and training for local filmmakers and film enthusiasts.

The proposed ordinance also proposes the establishment of Cine Oro Creative Hub, envisioned as a shared facility and resource center for filmmakers and a venue for preserving local films through the Cine Oro Film Archives.

Councilor Girlie Balaba, chair of the Committee on Tourism, said the proposed measure could help enhance the talents of local filmmakers while preserving the city’s history.

“Good ordinance para ma-enhance ang talent sa atoang [filmmakers] and, of course, ma-preserve ang story and history sa Cagayan de Oro,” she said.

For Bacus, stronger support from the city could help bridge local filmmakers and the stories they want to tell.

“Kami ang bridge,” he said, referring to the role of filmmakers in turning community stories into films, adding that with the city’s support, filmmakers can help bring those stories to audiences. (PGU/SP)