The 50th anniversary of the Metro Manila Film Festival held its grand launch on Tuesday, July 16. Image: Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) Official/Facebook
The Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) 2024 will celebrate its 50th anniversary, as it kicked it off on Tuesday, July 16, with the announcement of the first batch of film entries that made the cut.
Following the theme “Sinesigla sa Singkwenta,” this year’s festival will feature 10 competing entries with various genres. MMFF-centered events including the MMFF Parade of Stars and Gabi ng Parangal will be included in the annual fete, while a mural and other events will be unveiled.
According to the organizers during the grand launch on Tuesday, the first five entries were selected out of 39 scripts.
JUST IN: MMFF announced the first batch of film entries competing in the 2024 Metro Manila Film Festival, which is set to be its 50th-anniversary celebration.
“And the breadwinner is…”
Cast: Vice Ganda, Eugene Domingo, Maris Racal, Gina Pareño
Director: Jun Robles Lana… pic.twitter.com/h1Hh9Tl2cZ— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) July 16, 2024
Leading the first batch of entries is “And the breadwinner is…,” which stars Vice Ganda, Eugene Domingo, Gina Pareño and Maris Racal. Jun Robles Lana serves as the director, while the screenwriters are Daisy Cayanan and Jonathan Albano.
Also part of the festival is the Zig Dulay-helmed “Green Bones” starring Sofia Pablo and Dennis Trillo. Meanwhile, Ricky Lee and Anj Atienza were tapped to write the script.
Jane De Leon, Enrique Gil, Alexa Miro and MJ Lastimosa will be the lead stars of the third entry, “Strange Frequencies: Haunted Hospital” directed by Kerwin Go. Aside from being the director, Go also wrote the script along with Dustin Celestino and Leovic Arceta.
The classic film “Himala” will be reimagined into a musical with “Himala: Isang Musikal” which stars Aicelle Santos, Bituin Escalante, David Ezra and Vic Robinson. Pepe Diokno serves as the director, while Lee and Diokno are in charge of the script.
Vic Sotto is returning to the MMFF with “The Kingdom” where he will be joined by Piolo Pascual. Michael Tuviera was tapped to direct the movie, while Michelle Ngu-Nario wrote its storyline.
The remaining five entries will be announced at a later date, according to the organizers.
The MMFF 2024 will be held from Dec. 25 to Jan. 7, 2025.
In the previous edition of the MMFF, “Firefly” won the Best Picture, while Cedrick Juan and Vilma Santos bagged the Best Actor and Best Actress awards, respectively.