IN CELEBRATION of the National Heritage Month, SM City Cagayan de Oro opened its Cinema on June 3, 2022, to a one of a kind film open to all for free.
This year's theme is "Pamanang Lokal, Binhi ng Kulturang Pilipino."
SM Cinemas in Cagayan de Oro showed a 1950 Filipino bioepic film Genghis Khan or Ang Buhay ni Genghis Khan directed by national artist for film Manuel Conde. The film is the earliest film to depict the life of Mongol ruler and emperor Genghis Khan.
Genghid Khan is considered a classic. The film was given a technical achievement citation upon its debut at the 1952 Venice Film Festival. It also was shown at the 1952 Edinburgh Film Festival.
"We are grateful to host this event as we welcome you back to our cinema. For this year's collaboration with Filipino Heritage Festival Incorporated, we are bringing back movies which feature our beautiful heritage, history and tradition," Bernadette Flores, SM City Cagayan de Oro mall manager, said.
Flores added that they believe that films are "very important in Filipino culture" as it gives people a glimpse of the Filipino's past culture, values and way of life.
"Movies resemble a time machine. With this, we can see memories of the past play out in the big screen that can help future generations to learn and pass all the learnings to the next generation," Flores said.
Filipino Heritage Festival is a yearly month-long celebration centered on heritage. It features performance, visual arts exhibits, thematic culinary events and other activities emphasizing traditions and customs performed on heritage sites and malls, to reach a wider audience.
May was declared as the National Heritage Month in recognition of the need to create among the people a consciousness, respect and pride for the legacies of Filipino cultural history, and love for country.