The 10 entries to the 2023 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) have reached a record-breaking P1.069 billion ticket sales as of Jan. 7, with officials expecting more earnings as a result of the decision to extend the film showing for one more week.

Lawyer Don Artes, MMFF chairperson and acting Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman, said they achieved the feat despite the fact that the 10 films were only shown in 800 cinemas starting on Dec. 25 as opposed to the 1,200 cinemas opened in 2018. 

Artes attributed the sales success of the movies to the quality of how they were made.

“During the previous MMFF only the CDE markets of the moviegoers were targeted, but now, ABC market was included,” said Artes. 

The 10 official entries, “A Family of 2 (A Mother and Son Story),”  “(K)Ampon,”  “Penduko,”  “Rewind,”  “Becky and Badette,” “Broken Heart’s Trip,”  “Firefly,”  “GomBurZa,”  “Mallari,”  and “When I Met You in Tokyo,”

 “We also received reports that moviegoers watched multiple films while others watched films repeatedly,” said Artes.

Int’l exposure 

Currently, Artes said the MMFF Committee is beefing up its efforts for the maiden Manila International Film Festival (MIFF) which will screen the 10  film festival entries in Los Angeles in California, USA, from Jan. 29 to Feb. 2.

“We at the MIFF intend to continue the wonderful momentum that was built up by MMFF, with the similar goal of uplifting and giving a bigger spotlight to Filipino cinema worldwide,” MIFF consultant and spokesperson Winston Emano 

Under MIFF, there will be a series of gatherings and dialogues of Filipino celebrities, filmmakers and scriptwriters and their American counterparts.

“There will be an exchange of ideas and knowledge sharing. We hope to bridge the gap and connect the Philippine entertainment industry with that of Hollywood and the international stage,” said Artes, for his part. 

50^th edition

Hopefully, we can sustain this beyond the festival so that our film producers can offer quality movies all year round. We also encourage filmmakers to create better films for the MMFF’s 50th edition,” he added.

Artes said activities leading to the 50th MMFF are the student short film caravan, the short film festival, publishing a coffee-table book, and “Cine 50,” where top 50 MMFF films for the last 49 years will be screened in selected theaters for only P50.

“We are expecting to feature bigger and better films for our 50th edition as we celebrate the cinema-goers return to theaters and patronize local movies,” said Artes.

Illegal streaming 

Meanwhile, Artes said they are now coordinating with concerned agencies and film producers after receiving reports that MMFF film entry “Rewind” has leaked, been illegally streamed, and been distributed online.

“We are coordinating with authorities so that the illegally-streamed films will be taken down immediately,” said Artes.

He also urged the public not to engage in movie piracy, which is a crime, and discredit the Filipino filmmakers’ hard work, talent, and resources put into their projects.