Cinema One Celebrates 25 Years of Saluting Filipino Films

Cinema One, one of the first locally produced cable channels in the Philippines, commemorates 25 years of championing Philippine cinema and launches its silver anniversary theme song “Laging Kasama” performed by Daniel Padilla.

Daniel recently performed the song in “ASAP Natin ‘To.” The music video is also available on Cinema One’s YouTube channel. 

One of the country’s leading cable channels, which has showcased and delivered thousands of Filipino films to television, Cinema One will also premiere the highest grossing Filipino film of all time, “The Hows Of Us” starring the Phenomenal stars of Philippine cinema Daniel and Kathryn Bernardo, on Sunday (June 30) at 7pm.

This month, the channel also features a compelling line-up in the Restored Cinema program section in celebration of 100 Years of Philippine Cinema, with the award-winning war drama “Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos” which aired last Sunday and “Ibong Adarna (1941),” the oldest film in its archive,” on Sunday (June 30) at 9pm.

 Cinema One began in 1994 as Sky One, later changed its name to Pinoy Blockbuster Channel, and finally got its current name in 2001. It is one of the ABS-CBN cable channels under the network’s subsidiary, Creative Programs, Inc.

Channel head Ronald Arguelles shared that Cinema One was born to provide a 24-hour channel showcasing Filipino films.

“Aside from doing our core programming made up of classic and contemporary Pinoy films, we also began producing local magazine shows like “Cinemanews,” “Persona,” “Cover Story,” and “Review Night,” Ronald shared of the channel’s local production beginnings in 2001.

Screenwriter Ricky Lee shared in the recent “Inside the Cinema” interview that the channel has become a repository of Filipino movies since then, “the go-to channel if you want to watch local films.”

Today, the Cinema One brand has evolved from merely airing movies to producing its own films through the annual Cinema One Originals festival. The fearless film festival has brought international recognition and award-winning stories, including the box office hit “That Thing Called Tadhana.”

Bianca Gonzales, host of the channel’s magazine show “Cinemanews,” hailed Cinema One for opening opportunities for young filmmakers, the future of Philippine cinema. “Here in Cinema One, especially in ‘Cinemanews,’ independent filmmakers and film personalities are given more airtime to articulate their views and opinions about their projects and discuss varied issues affecting work and their lives.”

The premier cable channel also regularly hosts outdoor screenings via OpenAir Cinema One to bring the moviegoing experience face-to-face to viewers, capped with live music and games for the audience’s enjoyment. 

The channel has continued to grow for the past two and a half decades, even producing its own series “Single/ Single” for two successful seasons and concluded it with a movie in 2018.

This year, it went full blast with its own YouTube channel to stream films and program clips online, and in just three months it already gained over 120,000 subscribers. 

“We want to do more collaborations with new platforms such as iWant and YouTube. We also hope to continue producing more diverse and exciting films,” Ronald added.

   

Join the celebration of Cinema One’s 25^th Year, tune in to the channel available on SKYcable Channel 56, SKYdirect Channel 19, Destiny Cable Analog 37 and Digital 56. Watch the “Laging Kasama” music video on Cinema One’s YouTube channel. For more details, follow @Cinema1channel on Facebook, @c1nemaone on Twitter, and @cinemaonechannel on Instagram.