The 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival survived without star power and commercial movies.
This is according to the organizers of the MMFF 2016 who claimed that they have reached its gross revenue target for opening day.
“We have re-assessed and set a new benchmark for this festival, we nevertheless look at the financial sales for the first day as a real bonus as we have already achieved what we started out to in the first place, which is the cultural advancement through Filipino films.”
The statement added: “You cannot put a price [on] something which the future generations of Filipinos will find priceless and ageless.”
Organizers, however, did not release any figures to support their claims of the successful film festival.
Unconfirmed reports said that “Vince and Kath and James” topped the first-day earning for filmfest. In second place was “Die Beautiful;” “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 2,” third; and “Seklusyon,” fourth, “Saving Sally,” fifth; “Oro,” sixth; “Kabisera,” seventh; and “Sunday Beauty Queen,” eighth.
On second day, “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 2” dominated the race at No. 1, followed by “Die Beautiful,” “Seklusyon,” “Vince and Kath and James.”
Observers believe that the ranking of the movies would be affected once the awards were handed out during the “MMFF 2016 Gabi ng Parangal” on December 29.
The annual film festival became controversial this year after big commercial movies such as “Enteng Kabisote,” “The Super Parental Guardians” failed to make the “magic 8” entries.
Entries were chosen based on the following criteria: story, audience appeal and overall impact (40 percent); cinematic attributes or technical expertise (40 percent); global appeal (10 percent); and Filipino sensibility (10 percent).
Now on its 42nd year, the 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival will wind up on January 3, 2017.