The Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) has been fielding better-than-usual lineups since the Covid-19 pandemic began turning moviemaking tradition on its head in 2020. It kept counterproductive scandals at bay by awarding the coveted best picture prize to worthy winners (“Fan Girl,” “Big Night,” “Deleter” and last year’s “Firefly”) and runners-up (“The Boy Foretold by...
Tag: Metro Manila Film Festival
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‘Isang Himala’: adapting an adaptation
Let’s be clear about this. “Isang Himala,” an entry in this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival, is not a remake of the original film in 1982. It is a film reimagination of the theater musical first staged in 2003 which was based on the film. An adaptation of an adaptation. If there are crossover artists, Ricky...
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The business of the Metro Manila Film Festival
The Metro Manila Film Festival is now 50 years old, and my memories rush in. When I was a young movie fan in grade school, I considered its precursor, the Manila Film Festival (MFF), a grand fiesta of Filipino films. I anticipated the event, reading about it in the weekly Manila publications Philippines Free Press,...
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How will the Metro film festival set in April fare?
The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), the government agency that organizes the annual Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) in December, has no qualms about green-lighting the staging of the event this summer. With health protocols eased as coronavirus cases decline, the first Summer Metro Manila Film Festival (SMMFF) has been scheduled for April 8-18 by...
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Postscript to MMFF awards: What was the matter with ‘Family Matters’?
We were right, after all. We’re no psychic, only an ordinary moviegoer, so we claim nothing except our daring to look beyond the rainbow. We fearlessly predicted that Nadine Lustre would win as Best Actress in the 48th Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) for her portrayal in Viva Films’ “Deleter” of a digital content manager...
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At the MMFF: Don’t get dazzled by movie trailers
Beware of movie trailers. Some are so good at setting high expectations that the actual films fail to deliver. Take the current Metro Manila Film Festival’s “Family Matters” and “Deleter,” for examples. The “Family Matters” trailer promises the second coming of “Tanging Yaman,” that classic tearjerker from the 2000 MMFF about a big dysfunctional global...