Show biz folk ready to cheer the pandemic-weary

Film producers are hoping to resume the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) in cinemas in December, according to Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) chair Rachel Arenas. She said the online MMFF last year earned very little and show business leaders want a little more this year aside from spreading good cheer in a pandemic-weary populace. Arenas said filmmakers want movie houses to reopen so that cinema operators can also recoup expenses on equipment. Sen. Grace Poe, who chaired the budget hearing, asked the MTRCB to determine the number of moviegoers who can be allowed inside if cinemas will be permitted to reopen, and the kind of equipment that operators have to keep the cinemas clean and safe. —LEILA B. SALAVERRIA