The 2019 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) is the 45th edition of the annual

Metro Manila Film Festival The Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) is an annual film festival organized by the Metro Manila Development Authority and held nationwide in the Philippines. The festival, which runs from Christmas Day through New Year's Day and into first weeke ...

held in Metro Manila and throughout the Philippines. It is organized by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA). During the festival, no foreign films are shown in Philippine theaters (except

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...

and 4D theaters).

Entries

Feature films

The Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) Executive Committee announced four of the eight official entries in July 2019. The first four films were selected based from the scripts submitted until May 31, 2019. ''Kampon'' was originally one of first four entries but was disqualified due to the late filing of its producers for a change in its leading actor after Derek Ramsay withdrew from the project. ''Kampon'' was replaced by ''Sunod'' which was the next in line entry for the horror genre.

Short films

A short film competition for students was organized as part of the film festival. A total of 16 short films were considered as semi-finalists with eight of them selected as the final entries. Each short film has a running time of 3–5 minutes and showcase the theme "Philippine Mythology and Regional Stories (Myths, Legends, & Folktales)". The eight selected short films were screened alongside the official eight full-length films during the whole official run of the film festival.

Parade of Stars

The traditional Parade of Stars which featured floats of the film festival's eight entries took place on December 22, 2019, in

Taguig Taguig (), officially the City of Taguig (), is the List of cities in the Philippines, fifth-most populous city in the Philippines situated on the eastern shores of Metro Manila, the national capital region. It is a center for culture, finance ...

. The route of the parade, the longest in the history of the film festival at , began at the Taguig Lakeshore Park and ended at the McKinley West Open Ground. The route passed through the M. L. Quezon Avenue, MRT Avenue, C5 Road before entering the McKinley Hill through Upper McKinley Road. Then the parade passed through McKinley Parkway, 32nd Street, 7th Avenue, 28th Avenue, 5th Avenue, Lawton Avenue, LeGrand Avenue and Chateau Road. The Best Float accolade is awarded in the same day of the parade. Temporary closures were implemented on select roads at the day of the parade from noon to 7 p.m. 700 to 1000 police officers were also deployed by the

National Capital Region Police Office The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) is a regional unit of the Philippine National Police (PNP) that has jurisdiction over Metro Manila, also known as the National Capital Region. It is headquartered in Camp Bagong Diwa. History ...

and 1,250 personnel by the

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA; ) is a government agency of the Philippines responsible for constituting the regional government of Metro Manila, comprising the capital city of Manila, the cities of Quezon City, Caloocan, ...

to secure the parade.

Vice Ganda Jose Marie Borja Viceral (born March 31, 1976), known professionally as Vice Ganda (), is a Filipino comedian, actor, host, singer and television personality. He is considered one of the most successful entertainers in Philippine show business ...

arrived late to the parade for the float of '' The Mall, The Merrier'' due to live guesting conflict with ASAP Natin 'To at

ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center The ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center (also called ABS-CBN Broadcast Center; formerly known as Broadcast Plaza from 1974 to 1986 and current edifice formerly spelled officially as ABS-CBN Broadcasting Centre) in Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines is th ...

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

Awards

The Gabi ng Parangal () of the 2019 Metro Manila Film Festival was held on December 27, 2019 at the New Frontier Theater in

. The awards night was hosted by

Marco Gumabao Marco Gabriel Imperial Gumabao (; born August 14, 1994) is a Filipino actor, model, athlete, and entrepreneur. He is a model for the Philippine-based international clothing brand Bench's underwear and swimwear collection for men, under Benc ...

and

Bela Padilla Krista Elyse Hidalgo Sullivan (born May 3, 1991), better known by her stage name Bela Padilla (), is a Filipino actress, host, singer, writer, and director. She is best known for her roles in television dramas on GMA-7 and ABS-CBN, as well as ...

. The Board of Jurors in this year's edition consisted of Chairman Karlo Alexi Nograles, Co-chairman Senator Bong Go, Vice-chairman Arsenio Lizaso, plus Jury Members Vilma Santos-Recto, Rachel Arenas, Joel Lamangan, Joey Javier Reyes, Christopher de Leon, Belinda Enriquez, Dr. Corazon Bautista-Cruz, Romy Vitug, Nonong Buencamino and Fr. Larry Faraon. The MMFF Hall of Fame Awards were also held as part of the larger Gabi ng Parangal that gave recognition to past award recipients who have been awarded three or more times in the same category in the past editions of the Gabi ng Parangal.

Major awards

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (). Nominations are also listed if applicable.

Special Awards

Metro Manila Film Festival Stalwarts

* Marichu Perez-Maceda * Boots Anson-Rodrigo *

Bienvenido Lumbera Bienvenido L. Lumbera (April 11, 1932 – September 28, 2021) was a Filipino poet, critic and dramatist. Lumbera is known for his nationalist writing and for his leading role in the Filipinization movement in Philippine literature in the 1960s, ...

Metro Manila Film Festival Hall of Fame

Other awards

*Scratch-it Lucky Male Star of the Night –

Aga Muhlach Ariel Aquino Muhlach"Aga Muchlach biography"
''IMDB''. Retrieved June 13, 2014. (; born August ...

*Scratch-it Lucky Female Star of the Night –

Carmina Villarroel María Carmina Muñiz Villarroel-Legaspi (; ; born August 17, 1975) is a Filipino actress, television presenter, and product endorser. She is best known for portraying the role of Lyneth Santos in the medical drama, ''Abot-Kamay na Pangarap'' ...

Short Film category

*Best Student Short Film – ''Pamana ni Lola'' from

Polytechnic University of the Philippines The Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP; ) is a public, coeducational, research university in Santa Mesa, Manila, Philippines. It was founded on 19 October 1904, as the Manila Business School (MBS) and as part of Manila's public sch ...

, Sta. Mesa *Special Jury Prize – ''Gold, Silver, Bronze at Anting-Anting'' from DLSU Integrated School, Manila

Multiple awards

Multiple nominations

Box office gross

The eight entries of 2019 Metro Manila Film Festival made a combined box office gross of during the official run of the film festival. The MMFF Executive Committee targeted a box office gross of , with the actual box office gross figure deemed "acceptable in the industry practice". The top four grossing films in no particular order was also released namely: ''3pol Trobol: Huli Ka Balbon!'', ''The Mall, the Merrier'', ''Miracle in Cell No. 7,'', and ''Mission Unstapabol: The Don Identity''. The box office figures for the top four team was eventually announced.

References

{{MMFF Metro Manila Film Festival MMFF MMFF MMFF MMFF MMFF December 2019 in the Philippines January 2020 in the Philippines