MMDA starts preparing for Summer Film Fest

THE preparations for the first Metro Manila S”mmer Film Festival (MMSFF) set for April has started, the Metropolitan Manila Development A”thority (MMDA) said on Sat”rday.

“We are very excited for the first- ever MMSFF in April. This early, preparations for the Parade of Stars have beg”n to ens”re that the event will be an exciting day for Filipino moviegoers,” said MMDA and Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) Chairman Danilo Lim in a statement.

The summer metro film festival was proposed by Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, a member of the MMFF Exec”tive Committee, to encourage the film industry to create more quality films.

Lim earlier said the MMSFF seeks to f” rther promote the growth and development of the local film industry.

The MMSFF will officially open on April 11, Black Sat” rday, where eight- f” ll length films will be shown excl” sively in theaters nationwide for a period of 11 days.

According to cinema exhibitors, historically, Black Sat”rday is the second highest grossing playdate next to the Christmas season, when the MMFF is held.

In last year’s MMFF, movie prod”cers earned total gross sales of more than P955 million, 4.5 percent lower than the target of P1 billion.

Similar to the MMMF, the summer metro film festival will feat”re a Parade of Stars showcasing floats carrying celebrities of the summer film festival’s official entries.

MMDA said the s”mmer festival’s Parade of Stars will take place in Q”ezon City on April 5, Palm S”nday.

The parade will cover a distance of 6.2-kilometers and is expected to take a minim”m of two ho”rs and 30 min”tes. It will start from Welcome Rotonda- Q” ezon Aven”e and end at Q”ezon Memorial Circle.