Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte on Thursday said she was grateful that QCinema is slowly gaining recognition from moviegoers, especially since the city is able to promote restaurants, hotels and its other attractions through a partnership with the Department of Tourism.
“I am happy that movie critics chose QCinema as the best local film fest. I think this shows that our city’s film festival is effective for showcasing world-class films that moviegoers can enjoy and at the same time, they are starting to see Quezon City as a film destination,” she noted.
Among the film festivals that showcased well-crafted independent films in Metro Manila last year, the Quezon City International Film Festival, also known as QCinema, topped the list as the best local film festival for film reviewers.
According to PinoyRebyu, a Filipino film aggregators’ website, QCinema garnered a near-unanimous first place for being able to exhibit “high-quality local films and world cinema favorites in 2018,” while offering a more audience-friendly viewer service than those of other film festivals.
Launched in 2013, Belmonte spearheaded QCinema in the city’s venture to be the country’s “Film Capital” while also encouraging QC filmmakers to illustrate their creativity through well-crafted movies that incorporate Filipino values such as nationalism, freedom, excellence and gender sensitivity.