MANILA, PHILIPPINES — On Monday, April 10, the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) held its first-ever summer edition and announced the winners at an awards ceremony at the New Frontier Theater. 

Among the eight competing films, About Us But Not About Us received the most awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Lead Actor, and Best Screenplay.

The film also got Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Production Design, Best Musical Score, and Best Sound awards. 

The festival also recognized Gladys Reyes as Best Lead Actress for her performance in Apag, while Kaladkaren made history as the first transgender woman to win Best Supporting Actress for her role in Here Comes the Groom. Romnick Sarmenta and Keempee de Leon also received awards for Best Lead and Best Supporting Actor, respectively.

On the other hand, the film Here Comes The Groom won four awards: Third Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Special Jury Prize.

They also gave a special jury prize to the Here Comes the Groom production and to About Us But Not About Us actor Elijah Canlas.

Here’s the full list of winners for the 2023 Summer MMFF:

• Best Picture: About Us But Not About Us
• Second Best Picture: Love You Long Time
• Third Best Picture: Here Comes the Groom
• Best Director: Jun Robles Lana, About Us But Not About Us
• Best Actor in a Leading Role: Romnick Sarmenta, About Us But Not About Us
• Best Actress in a Leading Role: Gladys Reyes, Apag
• Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Keempee de Leon, Here Comes the Groom
• Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Kaladkaren, Here Comes The Groom
• Best Screenplay: Jun Robles Lana, About Us But Not About Us
• Best Cinematography: Neil Daza, About Us But Not About Us
• Best Editing: Lawrence Ang, About Us But Not About Us
• Best Sound: Armand de Guzman, About Us But Not About Us
• Best Musical Score: Teresa Barrozo, About Us But Not About Us
• Best Original Theme Song: “Paralaya” by Andy Alviz, Apag
• Best Production Design: Marxie Maolen Fadul, About Us But Not About Us
• Special Jury Prize: Here Comes the Groom and Elijah Canlas

The summer MMFF began on April 8 and will run until April 18 in theaters.  – WhatALife!/Jayve

Sources: (1)

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