This June is a busy month for #TeamFDCP. To celebrate and spotlight our LGBTQIA+ community, "Pelikulaya" goes international on its second year with the support of our partner embassies. It is now a bigger celebration than last year including multiple screenings of local and foreign films in multiple locations across the country, talkback sessions, a film competition and many more. We also launched the book Alternative Cinema by esteemed film scholar Nick Deocampo in partnership with the University of the Philippines Press.

We are currently bombarded with unprecedented amount of readily-available content on various streaming platforms. The result, at least among producers, is an even tighter competition in the already cutthroat global entertainment industries. Now how can we, still a developing country in the realm of production, compete? How can we emerge when we also have the challenge of limited development programs and funding?

BTS Goals. Be The next South Korea. No one can deny the explosive success of the South Korean brand in the global market. Hallyu, or the "Korean Wave," created a phenomenal growth of Korean culture and popular culture encompassing everything from music, games, cuisine, and especially their cinema. For most countries, this is the dream.

Fact — the Philippine film industry has always been a women-dominated industry. The Philippine cinema has always carried the indelible mark of the Filipina since the beginning.

I can still vividly remember the day late last year when I told my FDCP team that the Film Ambassadors' Night for 2022 will be back as an in-person event. The manifesting (and hard work) bore fruit and the dream has become a reality. More than a gathering of friends and a celebration of victories, this year's Film Ambassadors' Night (FAN) signals a new beginning for Philippine cinema — it is a symbol of hope. This is us as an industry telling the universe, "We are here and we are ready to begin again." After celebrating the 2021 FAN online, the FAN is back! And what can be a more fitting venue than the historic architectural treasure — the Manila Metropolitan Theater.

It is with gratitude that I share with you that last Monday, I received my reappointment for another term as Chairperson and CEO of the Film Development Council of the Philippines. An FDCP Chairperson is eligible for two consecutive terms and I am humbled to have been entrusted another term to continue the programs and projects that Team FDCP began, and to remain on the overall direction we have taken since my first appointment.

Last Tuesday, at the grand press conference for this year's Film Ambassadors' Night, I was able to personally meet our friends after two years of virtual press cons. It was so heart-warming to hear that they appreciate the things that the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) does for them and other audiovisual workers — not just the trainings but also the safe filming programs in partnership with the National Registry. It is refreshing and invigorating to hear that the work you do affects people in positive ways. Ralph Waldo Emerson says, "To leave the world a bit better... to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived — that is to have succeeded." Indeed. If there is anything that I would like to leave in my time as head of the FDCP, it is the thought that I was able to do what I can with the opportunity that I had to be a part of making things better for people.

All roads lead to Berlin, Germany, during this time of the year. After all, the Berlin International Film Festival — or the Berlinale — is among the three of the biggest, most prestigious, most attended film festivals on the planet.

We've seen each other through everything. When you were sad or bothered, you came to me. My stories to keep your mind off things and there was nothing that us and popcorn couldn't cure. I loved it more though when you celebrated with me — your wins, your birthdays, even Christmas. I spent it with you and your friends and family. Whether it was to laugh, or cry, even scream sometimes, we did it together.

The challenges of lockdowns and government protocols have forced the local film industry to find alternative distribution platforms and pivot to digital online platforms.