First Lady lends support to golden edition of MMFF

First Lady Louise "Liza" Araneta Marcos graced the special launch of the 50th edition of the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) on Tuesday afternoon. The event — hosted by Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna at the City Hall and jointly mounted by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, led by Chairman and lawyer Romando Artes, and the MMFF Executive Committee, led by veteran actress Boots Anson Roa-Rodrigo — fittingly looked back to the very first outing of the all-Filipino film festival in 1974, which was spearheaded by Araneta-Marcos' mother-in-law, former first lady and leading arts advocate Imelda Romualdez Marcos.

Fifty years later, the current First Lady stayed for the duration of the program, which was hosted by Isabelle Daza and Jake Ejercito. She eagerly applauded the announcement of the first five screenplays the MMFF Execom has initially chosen to participate in December's festival, affirming her all-out support not only for the upcoming celebration but the Philippine Film Industry in general. The first five screenplays, whose completed films will comprise this year's special "Magic 10" as opposed to the traditional eight official entries are: ABS-CBN Film Productions Inc. & The IdeaFirst Company's "And the Bread Winner is..." staring Vice Ganda and Eugene Domingo, directed by Jun Robles Lana; GMA Pictures' "Green Bones" starring Dennis Trillo and Sofia Pablo, directed by Zig Dulay; MM Studios Inc.'s "Strange Frequencies: Haunted Hospital" starring Jane De Leon and Enrique Gil, directed by Kerwin Go; Kapitol Films / Uxs, Inc.'s "Himala: Isang Musical" starring Aicelle Santos and Bituin Escalante, directed by Jose Lorenzo Pepe Diokno; and APT Entertainment Inc., MZET TV Productions, Inc., MQuest Ventures, Inc.'s "The Kingdom" starring Vic Sotto and Piolo Pascual, directed by Michael Tuviera.