CITY-RUN festival will showcase short films from Davao and across Mindanao, giving filmmakers a bigger platform to develop their craft and reach wider audiences
The Davao City government will launch its first city-run film festival in March 2027, creating a new platform for filmmakers from Davao City and across Mindanao.
The Davao City Film Festival will showcase short films and aims to strengthen the local creative industry by giving filmmakers more opportunities to develop their work and reach wider audiences.
City Information Office (CIO) officer-in-charge Harvey James Lanticse said the initiative grew from discussions with Mayor Sebastian Duterte, who wanted to expand the city's support for filmmakers beyond Davao City.
“We decided that by next year we’ll come up with a big film festival because I remember the mayor (Sebastian Duterte) wants to do this not just for Davao City but also the entire Mindanao,” Lanticse said.
He said the city wants to institutionalize its support for local creative talents, many of whom have participated in film contests held during the city's major festivals, including Araw ng Dabaw, Duaw Davao, and Kadayawan Festival.
“We realize we have three separate filmmaking competitions sa three festivals, lahi-lahi naga-apil (different participants) and lahi-lahi ang content na gina-produce (different content is produced),” Lanticse said.
“I think this is a manifestation of the potential we already have; the creatives are here, we have the form, we really need na han-ayon pa dyud (to refine it more),” he said.
Building a sustainable platform
Lanticse said the city wants to create a platform that can help filmmakers and other creatives sustain and develop their work.
The initiative also supports the city's goal of becoming a filmmaking hub in Mindanao.
The organizers are targeting March 2027 for the festival, coinciding with the 90th Araw ng Dabaw celebration.
Lanticse said the city plans to begin promotions and accept entries as early as November to give filmmakers enough time to prepare.
“As early as November, we want to start the promotions and the call for entries to give enough time for our participants to join,” he said.
The city is still finalizing the festival guidelines but plans to focus initially on short films. Organizers are also considering substantial cash prizes for the winners.
The festival will be a joint initiative of the City Information Office, City Tourism Operations Office, and Davao City Office of the Culture and the Arts.
City Tourism Operations Office OIC Willenito Tormis said previous film contests, including Salida Kadayawan, showed the need for a sustained platform for local filmmakers.
He described the new festival as an expansion of the city's previous film initiatives.
“By next year we will be launching the Davao City Film Festival. We will give more avenues for filmmakers not just for Dabawenyos but also to those throughout the region as well,” Tormis said.
The festival also supports Davao City's bid to become a UNESCO Creative City by strengthening its film and creative sectors.
Davao's film history
Davao City has a long history in filmmaking.
American film producer Edward Mayer Gross, who later became an abaca trader and settled in Toril, was among the early figures associated with the city's film history. Gross and his business partner, Harry Brown, later sold their film equipment to Filipino filmmaker Jose Nepomuceno, who produced and directed Dalagang Bukid in 1919, a film widely regarded as a landmark in Philippine cinema.
Davao City developed its own film industry in the 1950s, which continued into the early 1970s.
In 1977, filmmaker Briccio Santos, the son of then-Mayor Luis Santos, partnered with cinema owners in Davao City and, with city government support, organized a Davao City Film Festival that featured films and movie stars from Manila.
The private sector later launched the Mindanao Film Festival in 2005 during the rise of digital filmmaking. It screened films by Dabawenyo and Mindanaon filmmakers.
In 2013, Dabawenyo filmmakers established the Ngilngig Asian Fantastic Film Festival, a horror-genre festival that highlights folklore, myths, and stories from Mindanao and participating filmmakers' localities.
The Cinematheque Center Davao opened in 2012 through a usufruct agreement between the Film Development Council of the Philippines and the Davao City government. The 120-seat facility beside People's Park provided a venue for Filipino classics and films from around the world.
In 2018, the Davao City Council passed an ordinance creating the Film Development Council of Davao City to promote and support the development of the local film industry.
The city government established the Office of the Culture and the Arts in 2023 to develop programs supporting Dabawenyo artists across 18 artistic disciplines, including filmmaking.
Filmmakers from Davao City continue to produce full-length and short films that have been screened internationally and have received awards and recognition. PIA DAVAO
