Limelight

Days after the Met­ro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) announced its eight official entries to its 42nd edition on November 18, the producers and stars of the movies that failed to make this year’s cut, par­ticularly the big-budget franchises that lorded over the annual event for many years, offered their two cents on their exclusion, with two of them admitting they …

Come and celebrate the holi­days as Ballet Philippines (BP), in collaboration with ABS-CBN and the ABS-CBN Phil­harmonic Orchestra, stages Awitin Mo at Isasayaw Ko (Sing It and I’ll Dance), a new dance musical featuring the songs of popular 1970s Filipino band VST & Co. at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main The­ater) of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) from …

Black Box Productions proudly presents its first theater produc­tion, Mula sa Buwan (From the Moon), a musical that deals with love and ideals—and the heart­breaks in between—that’s set to run at Ateneo de Manila Universi­ty’s Henry Lee Irwin Theater from December 2 to 4.

After being named the “Most Popular Film” at the recent Inter­national Film Festival Manhattan (IFFM), Magtanggol returns for more screenings at the University of the Philippines (UP) Film Center on November 28 at 2, 5 and 7:30 p.m.

by Alvin I. Dacanay The newest films of Nora Aunor and Eugene “Uge” Domingo, a major winner at a recent international film festival, and Star Cinema’s latest production are among the eight diverse movies selected from 27 full-length features and introduced last Friday as the official entries to the 42nd Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF).

More than a month after his latest film Ma’ Rosa was chosen as the Philippines’ official foreign-language film entry to the 89th Academy Awards, prize-winning director Brillante Ma. Mendoza on November 3 became the first beneficiary of the Film Development Council of the Philippines’ (FDCP) Golden Statue Assistance Program in an effort to boost promotion for the movie.

Filipinos are known all over the world for their musical abilities. Blessed with unbelievable vocal range, Filipinos are recognized to be great singers, no matter where they are. Not only that, their originality and ingenuity in creating beats, melodies and tempos are seen as unique.

by Alvin I. Dacanay Valentine’s Day may be three months away, but audienc­es can experience this month love as the ma­ny-splendored—and ma­ny-splintered—thing that it is with emerging theater com­pany Dalanghita Productions’ latest offering, Tatlong Ling­gong Pag-ibig (Three Weeks of Love), which opened at the Power Mac Center Spotlight in Circuit Makati on No­vember 11 and will run every weekend until …

Last Saturday, world-renowned classical pianist Noriko Ogawa performed in an exclusive concert, called Spirited Impres­sions: An Evening of Classical Music with Noriko Ogawa, at the Francisco Santiago Hall of the Banco de Oro (BDO) Corpo­rate Center in Makati City.

The “Maaga ang Pasko (Christmas is Early)” program, the Philippines’ biggest and longest-running annual toy and book donation drive, is once again bringing out the iconic boxes that have helped teach generations of Filipinos the value of sharing and the real spirit of Christmas.