The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
Story and photo by Alvin I. Dacanay
More than two months after announcing sweeping changes in the rules, selection criteria, and the composition of the executive committee of the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), its organizers introduced the people tasked to choose this year’s entries, and the activities aimed at generating more excitement for the annual event.
At the 42nd MMFF’s formal launch—dubbed “#Reelvolution” and hosted by actors Iza Calzado and Epy Quizon—at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City last Tuesday, the festival’s executive committee, led by Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Emerson Carlos, unveiled the members of the selection committee.
They are actors Sid Lucero and Mae Paner; award-winning director Lawrence Fajardo; National Commission for Culture and the Arts legal counsel Trixie Cruz-Angeles; prize-winning creative writer and Movie and Television Review and Classification Board member Alfred “Krip” Yuson; former Manila Bulletin entertainment editor Crispina Martinez-Belen; and DZRB station manager Alan Allanigue.
These seven will pick the eight MMFF finalists, based on these revised criteria: story, audience appeal and overall impact (40 percent); cinematic attributes and technical excellence (40 percent); global appeal (10 percent); and Filipino sensibility (10 percent).
They will announce the finalists on Nov. 10, but not the winners, to be named during the awards night that’s now set for the last day of the festival, Jan. 8, 2017.
“After the eight [official] entries are announced… there will be a separate board of jurors” for the awards, actress and MMFF executive committee member Boots Anson-Rodrigo said during a press conference following the launch.
The members of this board are yet to be disclosed, although another executive committee member, film professor and festival programmer Ed Cabagnot, said in April there would be nine of them.
The MMFF organizers also announced that the deadline of submission of short and full-length feature films was moved to Oct. 19 and 31, respectively. The announcement of the short-film finalists, which will be screened with their full-length counterparts and have their own awards, will be on Oct. 27.
On the new prizes to be bestowed this year, Carlos said the winner of the People’s Choice Award will be determined by the number of tickets bought and submitted by moviegoers.
Six-month campaign
As part of efforts to promote and create enthusiasm for the revamped MMFF, the organizers also introduced a campaign marked by several activities leading up to the festival.
Two of these are logo-design and theme-song contests, which, the organizers said in a statement, “will set the mood for the MMFF.”
“The artist will not only design the festival’s new emblem, but will also be asked to create the key… visuals for the entire six-month campaign,” they added.
“The winner will be chosen by the new executive committee,” the organizers said.
As for the theme song, the MMFF said it “will be a signal banner for the festival” and that singer-songwriter Jimmy Bondoc, filmmaker Jerrold Tarog, and [executive committee member] Robert Rivera will pick the winning composition.
The submission period for both competitions is from July 15 to Aug. 15. The winners will be announced on Sept. 15.
Other activities that, the festival organizers hope, will create “a more experiential difference [that] fans will surely enjoy” is an “MMFF Corner,” which “will allow old and new fans alike to relive the country’s most glorious films through interactive galleries;” a “Best of the Best” festival featuring the MMFF’s finest films that will be shown in select theaters; a “FanCon” that will give moviegoers “an opportunity to interact with directors, producers and artists;” and the traditional Parade of Stars on Dec. 23, which will be “a bigger and more interactive fan fair.”