ENTERTAINMENT,
LIFESTYLE | September 21, 2019
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| (Image Source: Facebook/Celebrity World PH) |
Built
in 1965, the New Frontier Theater in Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City was
once the largest cinema in Asia and a classic entertainment landscape for
Filipinos in the 1960s. On the celebration of Philippine cinema's centennial
anniversary, the theater was transformed into an Art Deco Cinema which was a
fitting tribute to the stand alone theaters during the Golden Age of Philippine
Cinema.
The
Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) led by its chairperson Liza
Diño-Seguerra officially kicked off the year-long celebration commemorating 100
years of Philippine cinema which began on September 12, 1919 when "Dalagang
Bukid", the first Filipino-produced film in the country, was first shown
in theaters only to become a major box-office hit with an estimated gross of
Php50,000. Produced and directed by Jose Nepomuceno and topbilled by the late National
Artist Atang Dela Rama, the film based on a romantic sarsuela is about a farmer's
daughter who refuses to marry a rich man upon discovery of true love.
Prolific
in the 1930s and 1950s, Art Deco Cinemas in the Philippines were remembered for
their intricate structure and are viewed as a symbol of the first rise of film
as a staple of Filipino culture then and now. With the help of Big Bulb Inc.,
the New Frontier Theater was able to become a fusion of the past and the
present with Art Deco aesthetics and elements of old cinema in celebration of a
once-in-a-lifetime milestone for the Philippine film industry. More than 300 personalities
including veterans and living legends were awed and impressed with the venue
upon their arrival and have taken down a trip down memory lane looking at how
an old cinema was like during these days.
