MANILA, Philippines — The City of Manila will be the host for this year's milestone 50th year of the Metro Manila Film Festival as the annual event expects to accept eight entries (four based on scripts, while the other remaining four films as finished products) and screen past films in select cinemas for P50.
Cut down to eight from last year's 10 entries, Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and MMFF concurrent Acting Chairman Atty. Don Artes said that the festival will not be closing its doors to additional entries.
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"Although the committee has decided to only select eight films, it will depend if there are more quality films, the committee will allow the addition of more film entries," said Atty. Artes in a statement.
Apart from the eight films, this year also marks the return of the Student Short Film Caravan. Eight short films by Filipino students aged 15 to 19 will be chosen and shown before an official entry screens.
To mark its golden year, MMFF will be screening some of its past entries in select cinemas for P50 as part of its "SineSingkwenta" initiative.
Manila will serve as the host of the Parade of Stars on December 15, while the Awards Night will be on December 27.
The committee has set the following deadlines for this year's festival: submission of the letter of intent (May 15), submission of scripts and other required documents (June 14) and submission of finished film festival based on script submission (September 30).
Last year's edition marked some feats with the Marian Rivera-Dingdong Dantes comeback starrer "Rewind" selling the most tickets during its local and international screenings at over P900 million. It surpassed the record of another Star Cinema movie, the 2019 film "Hello, Love, Goodbye," starring Alden Richards and Kathryn Bernardo.
Last year's films were also screened and awarded separately at the inaugural Manila International Film Festival, which opened in California in early January this year.
All the 2023 MMFF films, namely “Becky and Badette,” “Broken Heart’s Trip,” “Family of Two (A Mother and Son Story),” “Firefly,” “GomBurZa,” "Kampon," "Mallari,” “Penduko,” “Rewind” and “When I Met You in Tokyo," were screened in select theaters in the United States from January 20 to February 2.
RELATED: 'Rewind' breaks P900M mark, including over P50M abroad