WITH the 49th Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) officially becoming the highest-grossing edition of all time, the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), which runs the festival, is looking to sustain the momentum of the festival’s success.
MMDA chairman Don Artes said in a statement posted online that combined gross receipts of its 10 film festival entries, which opened in cinemas on Dec. 25, 2023, have reached a record-breaking level of P1.069 billion as of Jan. 7.
This surpassed the box-office earnings of the previous highest-earning edition in 2018, which earned P1.061 billion.
“We received reports that moviegoers watched multiple films while others watched films repeatedly. Hopefully, we can sustain this beyond the festival so that our film producers can offer quality movies all year round,” said Mr. Artes in a press conference on Tuesday.
“We also encourage filmmakers to create better films for the MMFF’s 50th edition,” he added.
Mr. Artes observed that the 2023 festival only saw 800 cinemas open to exhibit films, whereas the 2018 edition had 1,200 cinemas at its disposal, making the recent success even more notable.
He cited the quality of films offered, the well-executed promotional campaigns, and the ABC market being part of the audience as contributing factors to the festival’s solid performance.
The ongoing MMFF is projected to earn P1.2 billion by the end of its one-week extension on Jan. 14, Mr. Artes disclosed. The initial projection for the festival’s box office was P700 million.
ACTIVITIES FOR 2024Aside from screening the 10 entries again at the maiden Manila International Film Festival (MIFF), to be held end of January in Los Angeles, California, USA, there will be several other activities leading up to the 50th MMFF.
These are “the student short film caravan, the short film festival, publishing a coffee-table book, and Cine 50, where top 50 MMFF films for the last 49 years will be screened in selected theaters for only P50.”
“We are expecting to feature bigger and better films for our 50th edition as we celebrate the cinemagoers’ return to theaters to patronize local movies,” said Mr. Artes.
Because of these plans, Mr. Artes announced that this year’s Summer MMFF is canceled. Talks are ongoing with Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) chairman Tirso Cruz III so that the MMFF can support one of its film festivals instead, such as the Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino (PPP).
In a statement released on Wednesday, the FDCP clarified that, during a meeting with the MMFF, Mr. Artes “broached the idea of reviving the PPP in place of the summer film festival,” to which Mr. Cruz responded that “the proposal has to be extensively studied.”
“Apart from a reduced budget, the PPP is not part of FDCP programs lodged for 2024,” it said. “The FDCP’s stand is to support and empower local festivals instead of mounting a festival of its own.” — Brontë H. Lacsamana
