‘Firefly’ emerges as MMFF 2023 Best Picture; ‘GomBurZa’ bags 7 awards

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 27) — Fantasy film “Firefly” won Best Picture at the 2023 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) Gabi ng Parangal on Wednesday, besting nine other entries in the festival’s 49th edition.

Zig Dulay’s movie managed to clinch the festival’s top prize, a surprise victory against “GomBurZa,” a historical film directed by Pepe Diokno, which bagged seven wins including 2nd Best Picture and Best Director.

Dulay directed the hit TV fantasy drama series “Maria Clara at Ibarra,” which stars Barbie Forteza, Julie Ann San Jose, David Licauco and Dennis Trillo.

“Firefly” follows 10-year-old Tonton (Euwenn Mikaell), who embarks on a journey to find the mythical island of the fireflies in his mother’s (Alessandra de Rossi) bedtime stories. It also stars Dingdong Dantes.

Mikaell emerged as Best Child Performer, while Angeli Atienza’s script was recognized with the Best Screenplay trophy.

“Nagbabalik na ang GMA Pictures...Sa pamamagitan ng "Firefly" nagbibigay sila ng pangako na magpapatuloy sa paggawa ng pelikulang may puso, de-kalidad, at makabuluhan," Dulay said in his acceptance speech

“Inaalay namin ang pelikula sa lahat ng taong naniniwala sa kapangyarihan ng pangarap, pag-ibig, at ng sining,” he added.

[Translation: GMA Pictures is coming back. Through “Firefly,” they promise to continue making films with a heart, quality, and relevance. We offer this film to all those who believe in the power of dream, love, and art.]

Rising actor Cedrick Juan, who played martyred priest Jose Burgos in “GomBurZa,” was this year's Best Actor, besting veterans Piolo Pascual, Dingdong Dantes, Christopher De Leon, Derek Ramsey and Alden Richards.

Juan, who has theater background, dedicated the accolade to Filipinos who have not received justice.

"Sana matuto tayo sa ating history hindi dahil para baguhin ito kundi para matuto," he added.

[Translation: I hope we would learn from our history, not to change it but to learn from it.]

Vilma Santos collected the Best Actress Award in tears for her performance in “When I Met You In Tokyo,” as she admitted she was not expecting the major win.

She beat Sharon Cuneta, Eugene Domingo, Pokwang, Beauty Gonzalez, and Marian Rivera.

“We just wanted to do a simple love story sa edad namin, pero ang talagang adbokasiya namin maging successful ang Metro Manila Film Festival and at the same time mabalik sana ang mga tao sa sine,” she said.

[Translation: We just wanted to do a simple love story at our age, but what we really advocate is for the Metro Manila Film Festival to be successful and at the same time to get people back to the movies.]

The 49th edition of the MMFF featured 10 entries from the usual eight, and will be on theaters nationwide for two weeks until Jan. 7, 2024.

READ: What to watch at MMFF 2023

Here is the full list of MMFF Gabi ng Parangal winners:

49th MMFF Best Picture - “Firefly”

2nd Best Picture - “GomBurZa”

3rd Best Picture - “Mallari”

4th Best Picture - “When I Met You In Tokyo”

Best Actor - Cedrick Juan, “GomBurZa”

Best Actress - Vilma Santos, “When I Met You In Tokyo”

Best Supporting Actor - JC Santos, “Mallari”

Best Supporting Actress - Miles Ocampo,”Family of Two”

Best Child Performer - Euwenn Mikaell, “Firefly”

Best Director - Pepe Diokno, “GomBurZa”

Best Screenplay - Angeli Atienza, “Firefly”

Best Sound - “GomBurZa”

Best Musical Score - “Mallari”

Best Original Theme Song - “Finggah Lickin” from “Becky and Badette”

Best Visual Effects - “Mallari”

Best Production Design - “GomBurZa”

Best Editing - “Kampon”

Best Cinematography - “GomBurZa”

Best Float - “When I Met You In Tokyo”

Best Gender Sensitivity Award - “Becky and Badette”

Marichu Vera-Perez Maceda Memorial Award - Lily Monteverde, also known as Mother Lily

Gatpuno Antonio Villegas Cultural Award - “GomBurZa”

Fernando Poe Jr. Memorial Award for Excellence - “When I Met You In Tokyo”