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2015 Metro Manila Film Festival
Film festival logo
Date	December 25, 2015 (2015-12-25) to January 7, 2016 (2016-01-07)
Highlights
Best Picture	#Walang Forever
Most awards	#Walang Forever (6)
← 40th Metro Manila Film Festival 42nd →

The 41st Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) is the edition of the annual film festival held in Metro Manila, Philippines and organized by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA). During the festival, no foreign films are shown in Philippine theaters (except IMAX theaters).

The festival began on December 23, 2015, kicking-off with the traditional Parada ng mga Artista (Parade of the Stars) float parade from Mall of Asia in Pasay to Quirino Grandstand in Manila. Showings are from December 25 until January 7.

The Gabi ng Parangal (Awards Night) was held on December 27 at the Kia Theatre, Araneta Center, Quezon City, hosted by KC Concepcion and Richard Gutierrez. Both the Parade of Stars and the Awards Night are aired via delayed telecast on TV5 thru a co-production with Viva Entertainment.

This is the first festival under the current organizing committee and MMDA chairman Emerson Carlos, after his predecessor Francis Tolentino resigned from his post in October 2015, to run for the Philippine Senate in the 2016 elections.

Metro Manila Film Festival reports that the total earnings of the festival is P468,000,000. But didn't say the earnings of each film.

Entries

Official entries

The official list of entries was announced on June 20, 2015. From the 21 entries, 8 were chosen for the festival.

• On October 23, 2015, Honor Thy Father, directed by Erik Matti and produced by Reality Entertainment, replaced Hermano Pule, which is directed by Gil Portes, after the latter withdrew from the festival due to lack of funding.

New Wave entries

The New Wave entries were screened on selected cinemas from December 17 to December 24, 2015.

Awards

Major awards

The following are the winners of the mainstream category:

Other awards

• Plaque of Appreciation – Francis Tolentino
• Male Celebrity of the Night – Cesar Montano
• Female Celebrity of the Night – Jennylyn Mercado

New Wave category

The following are the winners of the New Wave category:

• Best Picture – ARI: My Life with a King
• Best Director – John Paul Su, Toto
• Best Actor – JM de Guzman, Tandem & Francisco Guinto, ARI: My Life with a King
• Best Supporting Actor – Thou Reyes, Toto
• Best Supporting Actress – Bibeth Orteza, Toto
• Best Screenplay – Robert Tantingco, ARI: My Life with a King
• Special Jury Prize – Toto
• Manila Bulletin Entertainment Best Picture – ARI: My Life with a King
• Best Short Film – Mumu by Jean Cheryl Tagyamon
• Short Film Special Jury Prize – Daisy by Brian Reyes
• Manila Bulletin Entertainment Best Short Film – Momento by Jan-Kyle Nieva
• Best Animation Film – Buttons by Marvel Obemio, Francis Ramirez & Jared Garcia
• Animation Film Special Jury Prize – Lights Lights by Rivelle Mallari
• Manila Bulletin Entertainment Best Animation Film – Geo by John Aurthur Mercader

Multiple awards

Controversies

Ticket-swapping incidents

Alleged ticket-swapping incidents occurred in some branches of SM Cinema during the opening day of the festival. Some moviegoers claimed that they bought tickets for My Bebe Love but instead, were given tickets for Beauty and the Bestie. SM Cinema confirmed through its Twitter account that this incident occurred in SM City Bacoor. According to SM Cinema, the incident was "a mistake due to high volume of tickets purchased". They also assured the public that this transaction will be counted fairly for the gross sales of My Bebe Love. These tweets were later deleted for unknown reasons.

On the other hand, the Metro Manila Film Festival committee released a contrary statement regarding this issue. It is stated that they "strongly denies the existence of such" incident and they called the issue "baseless".

The House committee on Metro Manila Development, chaired by Quezon City Representative Winston Castelo, is set to start the probe on the disqualification case of Honor Thy Father and the ticket-swapping incidents in January 2016.

Honor Thy Father disqualification

On December 26, Honor Thy Father, was disqualified by the Metro Manila Film Festival Executive Committee from the Best Picture category after the film failed to disclose its participation as the opening film of the 2015 Cinema One Originals Film Festival. On the contrary, Dondon Monteverde, the film's producer, revealed that they did disclose this information beforehand. He attested that its premiere at the Cinema One festival didn't generate revenue which complies by the rules. He also questioned the timing of this decision, one day before the awards ceremony, and he demanded an investigation.

In an interview dated on November 2, 2015, MMFF Executive Committee member Dominic Du revealed to Philippine Entertainment Portal that the film did comply with the rules as the Cinema One premiere wasn't a commercial screening.

On December 28, Laguna Representative Dan Fernandez, who is part of the cast of Honor Thy Father, filed a resolution that directs the House of Representatives to conduct an inquiry regarding the disqualification of Honor Thy Father. The committee on Metro Manila Development, chaired by Quezon City Representative Winston Castelo, is set to start the probe on the disqualification case of Honor Thy Father and the ticket-swapping incidents in January 2016.

Pullout of Nilalang and Honor Thy Father from some cinemas

Nilalang director Pedring Lopez and co-producer Wesley Villarica expressed dismay over the pullout of their film and co-entrant film, Honor thy Father from some cinemas in favor of My Bebe Love and Beauty and the Bestie. Villarica noted that his film, was shown in 20 cinemas in Metro Manila and 7 theaters outside the metropolis in the opening day on December 25, but by next day less than 20 cinemas are screening his film. Honor Thy Father writer Michiko Yamamoto said that her film was pulled out from ten theaters the day after the opening day of the festival.

References

1. Cruz, Edgar O. (8 November 2015). "The Force awakens MMFF 2015". Philippine Star. Retrieved 20 December 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
2. Torres, Rap (20 December 2015). "MMDA: Road closures along Roxas Blvd for MMFF Parade on Wednesday". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 20 December 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
3. "AlDub dominates MMFF Parade of Stars". Manila Bulletin. 23 December 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
4. ^ "FULL LIST: Winners, MMFF 2015 awards night". Rappler. 27 December 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
5. "Official Entries to MMFF 2015 to be Announced Tomorrow". Metro Manila Development Authority. Metro Manila Development Authority. 19 June 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
6. "8 entries revealed: MMFF 2015 movie lineup". Rappler. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
7. "MMDA announces revised list of MMFF 2015 movies". GMA News. 13 September 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
8. "'Honor Thy Father' to be part of MMFF 2015". The Philippine Star. November 3, 2015. Retrieved December 27, 2015. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
9. "MMFF Announces New Wave Finalists". Metro Manila Development Authority. November 9, 2015. Retrieved November 28, 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
10. "MMFF 2015 moviegoers claim ticket swapping in cinemas". Philippine Entertainment Portal. December 25, 2015. Retrieved December 27, 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
11. "'My Bebe Love' director warns of MMFF ticket swapping". Manila Bulletin . December 26, 2015. Retrieved December 27, 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
12. "MMFF 2015 organizers deny ticket swapping issue". Rappler . December 26, 2015. Retrieved December 27, 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
13. "MMFF: Ticket swapping issue 'baseless'". Philippine Daily Inquirer . December 26, 2015. Retrieved December 27, 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
14. ^ "House panel to probe MMFF controversies next month". GMA News. December 28, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
15. "MMFF Entry 'Honor Thy Father' barred from Best Picture race". Manila Bulletin. December 26, 2015. Retrieved December 27, 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
16. "'Honor Thy Father' disqualified from MMFF 2015 Awards Best Picture category". Rappler. December 26, 2015. Retrieved December 27, 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
17. "'Honor Thy Father' disqualified from MMFF Best Picture race". CNN Philippines. December 26, 2015. Retrieved December 27, 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
18. "John Lloyd Cruz-starrer, Honor Thy Father, will officially be part of MMFF 2015". Philippine Entertainment Portal. November 2, 2015. Retrieved December 27, 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
19. "House resolution seeks probe on 'Honor Thy Father' DQ from MMFF Best Picture". Philippine Daily Inquirer. December 28, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
20. "Congress to probe MMFF Honor Thy Father DQ controversy". Interaksyon. December 28, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
21. "MMFF 2015 entries 'Nilalang,' 'Honor Thy Father' pulled out of some cinemas". Rappler. 27 December 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.

External links

• The 41st Metro Manila Film Festival Official website

Template:2015 Metro Manila Film Festival entries

• Metro Manila Film Festival
• 2015 film awards
• 2015 film festivals
• 2015 in the Philippines
• 2016 in the Philippines