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 weekend of January in the following year, focuses on Filipino produced films. During the course of the festival, movie theaters show only films that are approved by its jurors and exclude foreign films except in 3D theaters and IMAX theaters. It is one of the two Filipino major film festivals to exclude foreign films in a week-long period, the other being the Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino happening during August.

The annual event began with the 1975 Metro Manila Film Festival, during which ''Diligin Mo ng Hamog ang Uhaw na Lupa'' ("Water the Thirsty Earth with Dew") directed by Augusto Buenaventura won the best film award. For the 28th edition in 2002, the festival was expanded to be nationwide in scope instead of simply being held in Metro Manila.

One of the festival highlights is the parade of floats at the opening of the festival. The floats, each one representing a movie entry with their respective stars, parade down usually Roxas Boulevard, as was the case in many of the previous awards. Beginning in 2017, however, the float parade is now usually hosted by each of the 17 local governments of the capital region. On the awards night, a Best Float award is also announced along with the major acting awards.

A sister festival which is a spin-off of the MMFF, the Summer Metro Manila Film Festival, was supposed to have its first edition in April 2020. but was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic; its inaugural edition was instead launched in April 2023. A second spin-off festival, the Manila International Film Festival, was launched in 2024 as an extension of the MMFF, taking place in Los Angeles, California.

History

A precursor of the current festival began in 1966. Then-mayor of Manila Antonio Villegas inaugurated the "Manila Film Festival" ("Manila Tagalog Film Festival"). It was set up in order to get Philippine films screened in "first-run" theaters which at that time only screened American films. It was a 12-day event from June 14 through June 24, Manila's birthday, during which only locally produced films could be shown in theaters. The festival featured a parade in downtown Manila of actors and the featured films. Most of the first batch of the festival films came up with English titles. Despite the lack of support, there were different changes in making the festival flourish.

The best films of Manila Film Festival included ''Daigdig ng mga Api'' (1966), ''Dahil sa Isang Bulaklak'' (1967), ''Manila, Open City'' (1968), ''Patria Adorada'' (1969), ''Dimasalang'' (1970), ''Cadena de Amor'' (1971), ''Elias, Basilio at Sisa'' (1972), ''Nueva Vizcaya'' (1973) and ''Alaala mo Daigdig Ko'' (1974).

In 1973, the Manila Film Festival was discontinued as Martial Law was imposed in September the year before. On September 21, 1975, during the Marcos Presidency, the filmfest was expanded to include all the other cities and towns in the newly formed Metro Manila and began under the name "1975 Metropolitan Film Festival" (MFF). In 1977, name was changed to "Metro Manila Film Festival".

After Villegas' death in 1984, a special award in the Metro Manila Film Festival, the Gatpuno Antonio J. Villegas Cultural Award, was created in his honor and is given to the best film that best portrays Philippine culture and Filipino people to the world. MRN Film International's ''Andrea, Paano Ba ang Maging Isang Ina?'' was the first one to receive the lifetime achievement award in 1990. Since then, it has been awarding prestigious films that deserves the honors.

In 2010, the film festival underwent some changes. First, the commercial viability criterion (box-office performance of the entries) was removed. As of 2010, the criteria for the selection of Best Picture(s) are: artistry; creativity and technical excellence; innovation; and thematic value. Entries are also judged for global appeal (70 percent) and Filipino cultural and/or historical value (30 percent). In addition, the festival format gave a tribute to independent "indie" films. Lastly, the established board of jurors was expanded to include housewives, drivers, students, teachers, etc. The festival logo was changed to feature a map of the Metropolis of Manila, based on the old seal of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority with seventeen stars on it symbolizing the 17 cities and municipality of Metro Manila. The logo for the first 35 festivals featured a torch.

In September 2011, Atty. Francis Tolentino, then-chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) changed the category name of "indie" films to "New Wave" films to make it sound better and more attractive to hear, as well as including "Student Short Film Category" for the first time. Consequently, the next year, the 38th Metro Manila Film Festival held in 2012 became the highest earning MMFF to date with 767 million pesos, 21% higher than that of 2011.

In January 2013 Interaksyon.com review, writer Jessica Zafra