On July 8, the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) announced the first four entries of its 51st edition. The new edition of the festival was announced with the theme, “MMFF 51: A New Era for Philippine Cinema.”
One entry sees Vice Ganda and Jun Robles Lana reuniting for another MMFF project. Call Me Mother, a comedy-drama starring Vice Ganda and Nadine Lustre. The film centers on fabulous single queer mother Twinkle (Vice Ganda), who plans to surprise her adoptive son Angel with a trip to Disneyland after finalizing his adoption papers. But the unexpected arrival of Mara (Lustre) starts to complicate things.
The festival also includes Rekonek, the latest film from director Jade Castro. The film stars Gerald Anderson, Gloria Diaz, Alexa Miro, Carmina Villarroel, and Zoren Legaspi, and it marks one of the first projects the director has taken on after his arrest in 2024.
The crime thriller, Manila’s Finest, stars Piolo Pascual, who also starred in last year’s festival entry The Kingdom and the 2023 entry Mallari. Manila’s Finest is directed by Rae Red, best known for writing the Mikhail Red-directed thriller Birdshot and for co-directing the Cinema One Originals entry Si Chedeng at si Apple.
The final entry announced was Shake, Rattle, and Roll: Evil Origins, the latest addition to one of the longest film series in the Philippines (they date all the way back to 1984, and as of writing, there are 16 of them in total). The horror features an interesting line-up of actors, starring Ivana Alawi, Francine Diaz, Kaila Estrada, Fyang Smith, Loisa Andalio, Manilyn Reynes, Janice de Belen, Carla Abellana, Ysabel Ortega, Ashley Ortega, Elijah Alejo, Richard Gutierrez, Ryan Bang, JM Ibarra, Dustin Yu, and Seth Fedelin. The film is directed by Shugo Praico, Joey de Guzman, and Ian Lorenos.
The next four entries for this year’s MMFF will be announced on September 30.
