Metro Manila film fest grosses nearly P1B

FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—After a two-week run in theaters nationwide, last year’s Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) broke all records as its eight official entries brought in nearly P1 billion in overall gross revenues, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) announced Sunday.

In a statement, the MMDA, which runs the MMFF, said the Top 4 grossers among the entries were “My Little Bossings,” “Girl, Boy, Bakla, Tomboy,” “Pagpag” and “Kimmy Dora.” The other films that were shown were “Kaleidoscope World,” “Pedro Calungsod: Batang Martir,” “Boy Golden” and “10,000 Hours.”

“With almost a billion pesos in overall box office, we are overwhelmed and so proud that the MMFF has managed to break records, proving that the Filipino movie industry is not only surviving but thriving despite stiff competition from foreign movies,” MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said.

In the agency’s weekly radio program, Tolentino announced that as of Jan. 7, gross ticket sales had reached P987 million. He said he was hopeful that revenues would hit the P1-billion mark since the screenings of the four highest-grossing films had been extended.

Tolentino said that some of the MMFF proceeds would go to beneficiaries from the movie industry such as the Movie Workers Welfare Fund, Film Academy of the Philippines, Motion Picture Anti-Film Piracy Council, Film Development Council of the Philippines and Optical Media Board, among others.