Limelight

by Boy Villasanta After three years of intermittent awarding, is Philippine LEAF (Live Entertainment, Arts and Festivals) Awards breaking away? The organization which is associated with artists, television, movie and theater practitioners is reportedly on the brink of collapse or is it already falling apart? According to entertainment writer Art Tapalla, the internal conflict started when writer, stage luminary and …

I have never imagined that one day I would find myself in the same classroom with Herbert Bautista. You read it right, folks! Herbert Bautista in the house. It was on the morning of Thursday, June 4, 2026, the commencement of the three-day Directing-Cinematography Masterclass facilitated by award-winning filmmaker Raymond Red (“Anino,” “Bayani,” “Sakay,” “Mga Rebeldeng May Kaso,” “Kamera Obscura,” …

Keeping true to its commitment to nurture Filipino talent, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) proudly begins a new chapter of the Virgin Labfest Writing Fellowship Program (VLF WFP). Now in its 15th year, the fellowship program has selected eight (8) talented and passionate aspiring playwrights to participate in the educational component of the theater festival from June 16 …

It’s first time that prizewinning filmmaker Raymond Red (“Anino,” “Bayani ” “Sakay,” “Mga Rebeldeng May Kaso,” “Himpapawid,” “Manila’s Finest,” among others) and award-winning actor Piolo Pascual were together in a film. The project was “Manila’s Finest,” a Cignal and MQuest Ventures with Spring Films as joint production that was an official entry to the 2025 Metro Manila Film Festival. To …

by Boy Villasanta For the fourth time, 2015 Miss Universe and Filipina film and television star Pia Wurtzbach participated in the prestigious Cannes International Film Festival in Cannes, France not as an actress but as a model to prelude not the showing of a Filipino film but a European tentpole instead. Pia recently walked the red carpet of the 79th …

Being my first time in Boracay, it is a mix of excitement and blandness. Excited because, at last, among other things, I am able to step on the most-talked-about white sand of its beaches. Bland because I think Boracay is just as ordinary as any seascape. What adds to my excitement is the blending and the bonding with my cousins, …

Is the local film industry ready to embrace the idea of sourcing out renewable energy through solar power in the production of movies in the urban centers or in the remotest areas of the country where there are deficient electric supply? This is the question being posed to producers, moneyed or not, studio or independent ones. With the current fuel …

Remember Ed Finlan? Ed Finlan who? Ed Finlan, the Fil-Am matinee idol who rose to fame via Lea Productions’ teenybopper films “Haydee” and “Happy Hippie Holiday” and other pop movie hits in the 1970s. Ed, Eduardo Valdez in real life, recently passed on due to still undeclared cause. Finlan’s perennial leading lady Hilda Koronel was devastated when the bad news …

Flower girl models Joliena and Angelie Pagsinuhin with an Erick Valena bridal mannequin during the “Bridal Expo Tagaytay” (Photo Credit: Erick Valena) There are not a few established norms and traditions in our society that are already debunked and still being debunked by several harbingers or torch bearers of their advanced notions, beliefs and causes. At least, in the field …

This isn’t a throwback story. This is an on-going narrative. Or a back story for any season, for any reason. It is about the relationships that have been forged among Robin Padilla, Kiko Pangilinan, two of the twenty-four senators of the land and Megastar Sharon Cuneta. This formation has the flavor of a teleserye and a colorful tableau very attractive …