Chairman Danilo Lim of the Metro Manila Development Authority on Tuesday appealed to filmmakers to produce quality and innovative movies that will make Filipinos proud.
Lim, who also heads the Metro Manila Film Festival, made the appeal as the agency extended its congratulations to last year’s entry “Rainbow’s Sunset” which drew raves at the 52nd Annual WorldFest in Houston, Texas recently.
The MMDA chief praised the team behind the film “Rainbow’s Sunset” for making Filipinos, particularly the local film industry proud while at the same time pose a challenge to other production outfits that will join the film festival this year.
“I hope that this will not be the first and last time that we will win big in international film festivals and there will be more success in the future,” said Lim during a press briefing at the MMDA headquarters.
To honor the awardees, Lim conferred plaques to film director Joel Lamangan who won the Special Jury Prize; screenwriter Eric Ramos who bagged the Gold Remi Award for Best Story Innovation and best actor awardees and lead stars Eddie Garcia and Tony Mabesa.
“We hope to receive quality and innovative entries to this year’s MMFF —excellent stories that will capture the hearts not only of many Filipinos but also the international audience,” Lim added.
The deadline for submission of entries on script format for this year’s film fest is on May 31; deadline for Short Film Student Competition entries is on July 15; and entries for finished film format is on Sept. 20.
“The MMDA and the MMFF will continue to back up our local films and filmmakers for the Philippines to have its rightful place in global filmmaking industry,” Lim said.
According to Lim, the MMFF is gearing up for a “double celebration” this year with the commemoration of its 45th anniversary, which coincides with the centenary of Philippine cinema.
“We have big plans for MMFF, not only during December but all-year-round so we are holding seminars and caravans to develop talents of more students,” said Lim.
The Annual WorldFest in Houston is the third oldest film festival in the United States.
“Rainbow’s Sunset” tells about an aging man’s admission to his family about his romantic feelings towards his childhood best friend. It also bagged a number of awards from the MMFF 2018 last December including best screenplay, best actress, and best supporting actor and actress among others. Garcia also won the Special Jury Prize, together with co-star Max Collins.
In 2017, three members of the MMFF executive committee resigned and stated that the Execom put too much emphasis on commerce over art in choosing entries for the film festival.
Screenwriter Ricky Lee, former dean of the University of the Philippines’ College of Mass Communication Rolando Tolentino and journalist and documentary producer Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala said they accepted the invitation to be part of the committee because they were excited to maximize the gains of the festival in 2016, when most of the entries were artistically-made and independently-produced films.
Tolentino and Alikpala said the 2016 festival showcased a wide variety of quality cinema that went beyond the formulaic. They said that there was a shift of emphasis from commercial viability to artistic excellence that year as it celebrated the spirit of a film culture that produced many cult classics in the early years of the MMFF.
The MMFF 2016 failed to hit the P1 billion revenue target and collected only about P400 million in more than two weeks of showing nationwide.
“We stand committed to seek reforms in the Filipino film industry. We remain steadfast believing in a Metro Manila Film Festival that can once more be a celebration of the finest of Filipino artistry. The Filipino audience deserves no less,” the resigned members said.