Cinema of The Philippines

Cinema Of The Philippines

Cinema in the Philippines (Filipino: Pelikulang Pilipino or Sine Pilipino) started with the introduction of the first moving pictures to the country on January 1, 1897 at the Salón de Pertierra in Manila. The following year, local scenes were shot on film for the first time by a Spaniard, Antonio Ramos, using the Lumiere Cinematograph. Early filmmakers and producers in the country were mostly wealthy enterprising foreigners and expatriates, but on September 12, 1919, a silent feature film broke the grounds for Filipino filmmakers. Dalagang Bukid (Country Maiden), a movie based on a popular musical play, was the first movie made and shown by Filipino filmmaker José Nepomuceno. Dubbed as the "Father of Philippine Cinema", his work marked the start of cinema as an art form in the Philippines.

Even with the problems currently facing motion pictures around the world, movies are still considered as one of the popular forms of entertainment among the Filipinos, directly employing some 260,000 Filipinos and generating around ₱2 billion revenues annually.

The Philippines was the last country to establish a national film archive, when one opened in October 2011.

2011 was one of the most successful years in Philippine Cinema history as 3 of its films (all from Star Cinema) landed in the top 3 of the highest grossing Filipino Film of All-Time. The Unkabogable Praybeyt Benjamin grossed ₱331.6 million in box office and currently the highest grossing local films in the Philippines. No Other Woman grossed ₱278.39 million while 2011 MMFF entry Enteng Ng Ina Mo, has a gross income of ₱237.89 million (as of January 7, 2012) and considered as the highest grossing MMFF entry of all time.