Road Trip: Mowelfund Tour

MOWELFUND Tour

MOWELFUND stands for Movie Workers Welfare Foundation. It is a non-profit social welfare, educational and industry development foundation organized and established in 1974. It is founded by Former President Joseph Estrada for the welfare of workers in the Philippine motion picture industry. (Mowelfund.com)

In our tour in Mowelfund, last September 27, 2013, we were first given a background about Mowelfund by Ms. Boots Anson Roa.

Mowlefund’s Social Welfare Program aims to help the indigent and underemployed movie workers. It is established to cater the needs of members of the film industry especially the behind-the-scenes personnel like the gaffers, cameramen, production assistants, etc. (Mowelfund.com)

As we were toured in, the museum is fully dedicated to the rich history of the Philippine cinema since its inception in 1897 to present.

The museum showcased the different props and costumes that were used by the earlier films which were preserved in the museum.

I also got the chance to witness the earlier cameras used in making films and other tools that were used before in making films.

The picture below is the horror room. At first, we got scared to enter because we were the last ones in the tour to check this out. The monsters seemed so real!

 

During the tour, I also learned about the names of the stars that made a great impact in the history of film industry like Fernando Poe Jr., Gloria Romero, Dolphy Quizon, Nora Aunor, Luis Gonzales, Merle Fernandez and many more.

The museum also featured how films survived in each war and crisis. In the walls of the museum, it showed the timeline of how film started and how it influenced our Philippine cinema.

I actually appreciate the interior architectural designs of the museum, on how the walls and stairs were also designed to show details about the films like the stairs wherein the names of the earlier stars were placed.

It’s a good thing that the museum still preserved these things that were used in the earlier films and also the value that are enclosed with it.

After the tour, it made me realize that films are not just for entertainment, it also represents our culture and our history.

It’s amazing to think that it’s been a long time since I visited my school, Holy Spirit. After the tour at Mowelfund, I had the chance to meet some of my teachers and staffs who still works in my school. My school is just beside Mowelfund. So, I grabbed the opportunity to visit my school too. J

So yeah, try to visit the Mowelfund. Not just to witness and learn new things but also you can help in preserving these treasures and help the welfare of the movie workers.