MIFF to screen 10 Filipino films for the first time amid Hollywood’s awards season

Manila International Film Festival (MIFF) in Hollywood | Image: Instagram/@manilaintlfilmfest

The Philippine cinema is set to expand its horizons as the inaugural Manila International Film Festival (MIFF) is scheduled to screen the 10 official entries of the 2023 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) for the first time in Hollywood.

Sitting down on So Jannelle TV, media consultants Janet and Ruben Nepales, who are among the Filipino Americans co-founders of the MIFF, affirmed their advocacies to uplift Philippine cinema, saying the purpose of this festival is to establish the connection between the Philippines and Hollywood.

“Bridging the gap between Manila and Hollywood, that’s what we’re hoping for, to open communication [and] collaboration between the Filipino film industry and Hollywood and beyond. So hopefully this is the start of more, who knows, co-production ventures,” said Ruben. 

The first MIFF is expected to bring some of the Filipino stars and directors of the 10 official film entries to join the five-day festival, with American journalists and filmmakers also expected to grace the event.

“We’re expecting a lot of the Hollywood filmmakers themselves to notice the Filipino filmmakers who are coming here and probably coordinate and cooperate with them and one day have a project that’s a combination of all their works Fil-Am and others,” shared Janet. 

Despite the collaboration between the MMFF and the MIFF board of directors, the Nepaleses emphasized that they aim to stand as a separate entity from the MMFF and hope that the first international version of the festival will continue for many years to come. 

“We’re an independent entity. I mean we love the support of the Metro Manila Film Festival but we are our own independent organization. So we are very happy with MMFF to help us bring the films from the Philippines, but we hope to make it a long lasting organization,” expressed Ruben.

The MIFF will be held from Jan. 29 to Feb. 2 at the TCL Chinese Theatres in Los Angeles, California, with a star-studded red-carpet and awards ceremony on the last day and a dinner after-party at the Directors Guild of America.

Flying in from Manila to California are Alden Richards, Christopher de Leon, Piolo Pascual, Dingdong Dantes, Beauty Gonzalez, Eugene Domingo, Enchong Dee, Cedrick Juan, John Arcilla, Christian Bables, Ysabel Ortega, Andoy Ranay and Janella Salvador, among others.

Filipino filmmakers who are also scheduled to attend the international festival include Perci Intalan, Anj Atienza, Pepe Diokno, Joji Alonso, Derick Cabrido, Brian Dy, Karishma Gidwani, Omar Tolentino and Benjie Cabrera.