As you should know by now, this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival is unlike any other. So, it’s understandable if you find the idea of a radically changed MMFF to be a bit daunting.
But don’t fret. If you’re planning to go to the cinemas this Christmas, here are some points to remember about the 2016 MMFF:
1. This year’s MMFF will only run for 10 days, from Dec 25 to Jan 3. That’s four days shorter than the previous editions of the annual film fest.
2. Movies in the film fest have a two-day guaranteed showing in Metro Manila theaters. That means, box office bottom dwellers have at least two days before cinema owners can pull them out of the theaters.
3. There’s a 30 percent discount on MMFF movie tickets for students, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities. But the promo is optional and “may not be available for all entries.” According to an Interaksyon report, there will be no discounts for the Star Cinema entry Vince & Kath & James.
4. The MMFF awards night is set on Dec 29. The awards night was originally scheduled a day after the film fest, and the change is perhaps a last minute effort to promote the MMFF entries. Traditionall, MMFF award-winners get a boost at the box office.
Can’t decide what movies to watch? Here are some things to consider:
1. A fan of Paolo Ballesteros’ make up transformations? Check out Die Beautiful, a movie about a transgender woman who wants suddenly dies after winning a beauty pageant and wants to be buried as a different celebrity on each night of her wake. Paolo won the Best Actor award at the prestigious Tokyo International Film Festival for his role, so that’s something to look forward to.
2. Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank 2 is the sequel to the hit 2011 movie, and a comeback of sorts for Eugene Domingo (who hasn’t starred in a movie since 2014). Remember Eugene’s hilarious three kinds of acting bit from the first movie? This one, based on the trailer, will feature three levels of “hugot” (since the movie seems to be a sendup on local romantic movies).
3. Vince & Kath & James is a teen romantic movie based on the popular social media “textserye.” That may not sound too exciting, but the MMFF selection committee gave high praises for the movie (in particular, they praised lead actor Joshua Garcia’s performance).
4. Saving Sally is a romantic movie that combines live action and animation, something we don’t get often in local cinema. It took 10 years to make the movie, and early reviews say its visuals are “astounding.”
5. Sunday Beauty Queens, a movie about OFWs in Hong Kong who join beauty pageants on weekends, is the film fest’s first documentary in its 42-year history.
6. Seklusyon is the film fest’s only horror movie. Why do Filipinos love watching horror movies during the holidays? We’re not sure. But early reviews for the movie has been good. The Hollywood Reporter says it is “a grainy, gory parable about the triumph of evil” and compared it to movies The Omen and Infernal Affairs.
7. Kabisera is the film fest’s only family drama, a movie that tackles extra judicial killings and other abuses in Philippine society. The movie was rejected in the MMFF last year, when entries were chosen based on screenplays instead of finished films. It also stars Nora Auno and Ricky Davao, among others.
8. Oro, based on true events, is about small-scale miners played Joem Bascon and Mercedes Cabral who face the “consequences of violence and corruption” when their community is “disturbed by the arrival of an armed group masquerading as environmentalists.”
