Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte announced Wednesday the city’s bid to become a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative City of Film to elevate its standing in the global film industry.
The ambitious initiative underscores Quezon City’s rich cinematic heritage and continued commitment to fostering creativity, protecting cultural heritage and promoting inclusive development.
Belmonte, who also chairs the Quezon City Film Commission, stressed the significance of the bid. “Becoming a UNESCO Creative City of Film is not just a recognition of our past achievements, but an opportunity to redefine our future in the global film community,” she said.
Quezon City, home to 3.2 million residents, is a vibrant metropolis popularly known as the City of Stars. It has been pivotal in shaping the Philippine film industry’s history. Esteemed National Artists for Film, such as Lino Brocka and Fernando Poe Jr., traced their creative roots in the city.
During the film industry’s golden era in the 1950s and 1960s, Quezon City was the cradle for major studios, such as Sampaguita Pictures and LVN Pictures.
Today, Quezon City continues to be the central hub for filmmaking in the Philippines, hosting the country’s highest concentration of production companies and screen enterprises with 130 registered screen businesses, six national broadcast networks and close to 100 cinemas.
The city film industry generated $37 million or over P2-billion in local film revenues over the two years of 2022-2023, according to the QC government.
