2019 Metro Manila Film Festival
The 2019 Metro Manila Film Festival is the 45th edition of the annual Metro Manila Film Festival held in Metro Manila and throughout the Philippines. It is organized by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority. During the festival, no foreign films are shown in Philippine theaters.
Entries
The Metro Manila Film Festival Executive Committee announced four of the eight official entries in July 2019. The first four films were selected based from the scripts submitted until May 31, 2019.Kampon was originally one of first four entries but was disqualified due to the late filing of its producers for a change in its leading actor after Derek Ramsay withdrew from the project. Kampon was replaced by Sunod which was the next in line entry for the horror genre.
Short films
A short film competition for students was organized as part of the film festival. A total of 16 short films were considered as semi-finalists with eight of them selected as the final entries. Each short film has a running time of 3–5 minutes and showcase the theme "Philippine Mythology and Regional Stories ". The eight selected short films were screened alongside the official eight full-length films during the whole official run of the film festival.| Title | School | Director |
| Bronze, Silver, Gold at Anting-anting | De La Salle University - Integrated School Manila | Angelique Veridiano |
| Dating App | University of Makati | Thomas Balilla |
| Hipos | Sagay National High School - Negros Occidental | Cyrus Carano-o |
| Huling Kembot ni Fernando | Centro Escolar University - Manila | Jon Diez |
| Manggagalaw | Centro Escolar University - Manila | John Bolivar |
| Pamana ni Lola | Polytechnic University of the Philippines - Sta. Mesa | Regin de Guzman and Bradley Pantajo |
| Tabako | University of Saint La Salle - Bacolod | Alfredo Bayon-on |
| The Lost Sitty | Adamson University | Julius Custodio |
Parade of Stars
The traditional Parade of Stars which featured floats of the film festival's eight entries took place on December 22, 2019 in Taguig.The route of the parade, the longest in the history of the film festival at, began at the Taguig Lakeshore Park and ended at the McKinley West Open Ground. The route passed through the M. L. Quezon Avenue, MRT Avenue, C5 Road before entering the McKinley Hill through Upper McKinley Road. Then the parade passed through McKinley Parkway, 32nd Street, 7th Avenue, 28th Avenue, 5th Avenue, Lawton Avenue, LeGrand Avenue and Chateau Road. The Best Float accolade is awarded in the same day of the parade. Temporary closures were implemented on select roads at the day of the parade from noon to 7 p.m.
700 to 1000 police officers were also deployed by the National Capital Region Police Office and 1,250 personnel by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to secure the parade.
Vice Ganda arrived late to the parade for the float of The Mall, The Merrier due to live guesting conflict with ASAP Natin 'To at ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center in Quezon City.
Awards
The Gabi ng Parangal of the 2019 Metro Manila Film Festival was held on December 27, 2019at the New Frontier Theater in Quezon City. The awards night was hosted by Marco Gumabao and Bela Padilla.
The Board of Jurors in this year's edition consisted of Chairman Karlo Alexi Nograles, Co-Chairman Senator Bong Go, Vice-Chairman Arsenio Lizaso, plus Jury Members Vilma Santos-Recto, Rachel Arenas, Joel Lamangan, Joey Javier Reyes, Christopher de Leon, Belinda Enriquez, Dr. Corazon Bautista-Cruz, Romy Vitug, Nonong Buencamino and Fr. Larry Faraon.
The MMFF Hall of Fame Awards were also held as part of the larger Gabi ng Parangal that gave recognition to past award recipients who have been awarded three or more times in the same category in the past editions of the Gabi ng Parangal.
Major awards
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger. Nominations are also listed if applicable.| Best Picture | Best Director |
| |
| Best Actor | Best Actress |
| Best Supporting Actor | Best Supporting Actress |
| Best Child Performer | Best Screenplay |
| Best Cinematography | Best Production Design |
| Best Editing | Best Sound |
| Best Original Theme Song | Best Musical Score |
| Best Visual Effects | Best Float |
| Gatpuno Antonio J. Villegas Cultural Award | Fernando Poe Jr. Memorial Award for Excellence |
| Special Jury Prize | Gender Sensitivity Award |
Special Awards
Metro Manila Film Festival Stalwarts
- Marichu Perez-Maceda
- Boots Anson-Rodrigo
- Bienvenido Lumbera
- Joseph Estrada
Metro Manila Film Festival Hall of Fame
Other awards
- Scratch-it Lucky Male Star of the Night – Aga Muhlach
- Scratch-it Lucky Female Star of the Night – Carmina Villaroel
Short Film category
- Best Student Short Film – Pamana ni Lola from Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Sta. Mesa
- Special Jury Prize - Gold, Silver, Bronze at Anting-Anting from DLSU Integrated School, Manila
Multiple awards
Multiple nominations
Box office gross
The eight entries of 2019 Metro Manila Film Festival made a combined box office gross of during the official run of the film festival. The MMFF Executive Committee targeted a box office gross of, with the actual box office gross figure deemed "acceptable in the industry practice". The top four grossing films in no particular order was also released namely: 3pol Trobol: Huli Ka Balbon!, The Mall, the Merrier, Miracle in Cell No. 7,, and Mission Unstapabol: The Don Identity. The box office figures for the top four team was eventually announced.| # | Gross Ticket Sales | |
| 1. | Miracle in Cell No. 7 | ₱ 426 million |
| 2. | The Mall, The Merrier | ₱ 323 million |
| 3. | ' | ₱ 87 million |
| 4. | ' | ₱ 74 million |
| 5.–8. | Culion Mindanao Sunod Write About Love | Undisclosed |