Metro Manila Film Festival: The Glory Philippine Cinema

Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) has been a staple event for Filipinos every Christmas season. Families and friends gather together in cinemas to watch films as their kind of bonding and celebration. They share laughter and tears whenever they are inside cinemas, because the cinema experience is a collective experience that everyone enjoys, especially if it is being done during holidays with your loved ones. With the comeback of the popularity of MMFF in this post pandemic era, does it equate with the improving quality films of Philippine cinema?

Unpopular fact to everyone, MMFF started as a cultural project and disguised a facade of the first Marcos administration to lure the public into their propaganda of Bagong Lipunan. MMFF serves as a diversion from the crimes and corruption of the administration as it banners films in Philippine theaters back then. But this cultural project became an avenue for filmmakers to strike back and resist against the oppressive system back in martial law days in the form of art. Films features societal commentaries about sexual abuse, torture and, poverty. It propelled the Philippine cinema to achieve its golden glory, featuring infamous MMFF films such as Kisapmata (1980) and Karnal (1983).

Following this era, movie companies turned their concentration to producing local films with Hollywood flair in order to maximize profits. This move marked the beginning of the Metro Manila Film Festival's (MMFF) commercialization, which resulted in a decrease in emphasis on artistic expression and social significance in Philippine cinema—a trend that continues even up to this day. This massively affected the quality of films being produced from its bravery to input social commentaries, to being soft and shifted its focus to gain revenues instead of liberating the audience towards social awareness in the form of artistic capacity of films.

Just like literary pieces and any form of art, films are the reflection of our life. It encapsulates our dreams, personal desires, and fantasies. It projects our narratives, philosophical ideologies, and even our feelings and behavior as a human. It carries the responsibility of showing to everyone the value of imagery and depiction to employ a particular message about the happenings in his/her environment, including raising awareness about our society. Therefore, in order to achieve a strong impression of consuming films, it must serve as a reflective mirror that can show us who we are—our struggles, scars, and our personal stories that goes beyond by just being a mere entertainment and satisfaction.

Over the years, MMFF organizers created some changes such as establishing a criteria for judging a festival film entry based on its global appeal and for having a Filipino historical/cultural value. This criteria somehow helped the landscape of Philippine cinema to regain its golden age, and slowly discards “commercial appeal” in judging a film. This enables local film producers to harness their creative skills as they incorporate more Filipino identity and values. As the film festival gains momentum through the years, it paved the way for Filipino audiences to navigate themselves in the portrayals of actors and actresses in the middle of artistic relevance and real depiction of a Filipino story.

Comedy and fantasy mainstream films such as the films of Vic Sotto, Vice Ganda and Coco Martin have been the blockbuster films in the box office of Philippine cinema. For the past couple of years, they reigned the MMFF as the highest grosser in terms of profit. It is true because most Filipino families love to see these personalities dominate cinemas as they follow their careers in their respective noon time shows, and even with television dramas. In addition, the comedy genre is a perfect film concept for most Filipino families who want to enjoy a good laugh in theaters as a special form of bonding during Christmas.

Comedy domination did not stay longer in the festival as the most sought films in cinemas as the Filipino audiences craves for more films that are less formulaic, cliche, predictable in terms of stories. 2016 MMFF is a testament that Filipinos can still produce quality films that feature genres such as queer stories, dark comedy, and documentary. The diverse lineup of entries that year debunks the idea that Philippine cinema is just centered on the mainstream genres and commercialization but instead, Filipino films can also provide its audience with films that are enlightening yet heart-warming within the perspective of social awareness and relevance.

With the recent popularity of MMFF 2023, this year’s edition speaks more volume of the evolving audience mindset when it comes to consuming films. It dismantles the obsolete notion that Filipinos are entangled with a repetitive genre and less sharp to social commentaries at all. Just like in 2016, selection committee of MMFF brings us a diverse lineup of films without the domination of mainstream genres. This goes to show that commercial appeal with traditional film formulas is not the only effective way of promoting Filipino caliber films. The film productions this year were able to market films through word of mouth and intensive campaigns to the masses.

The organizers for this year was also able to successfully feature the films in a way that even if it is not the traditional film genres being consumed every year, they proved that films in the festivals are worth the watch because of the liberating stories of hope, reclaiming filipino brand and identity, and as well as our rich culture as a world class kind of cinema that we can offer to the world. This is a good sign that Philippine cinema is getting more sharp and meaningful in terms of its objective to promote, entertain, and educate the public about who we are as Filipinos.

Philippine cinema might have lost its prestige and glory before, but now it’s back on its track to reclaim its glamor by endorsing much of its authentic culture and creative participation in making the audience smart and socially aware. As MMFF gets progressive and inclusive with their film selection, there will be a bright future that waits for Philippine cinema.

Film is an art form that should be free and liberating.