NEWSFLASH 

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MILLENNIUM FILM FESTIVAL PAYS TRIBUTE TO MIKE DE LEON

Mandaluyong City, Feb. 7, 2000 The millennium film festival “Pelikula at Lipunan” opens tonight at the SM Megamall, EDSA, Mandaluyong City.

This 7th year edition of “Pelikula at Lipunan” will feature a series of films that have made the festival the country's premier showcase of quality movies.

The inaugural premier of Mike de Leon's “Bayaning Third World” is a salute to De Leon's outstanding achievements as one of the country's foremost film directors. The festival pays homage to him with a retrospective screening of his films "Kisapmata", "Sister Stella L", "Batch 81," and "Itim," a film that has not been screened theatrically in the country for 20 years.

Pelikula at Lipunan 2000 has extension screenings at SM Centerpoint (Feb. 19-20), SM Bacoor (Feb. 19-20), SM Cebu (Feb. 26-27), and SM Iloilo (Feb. 26-27).

Lipa City Mayor Vilma Santos Recto, who stars in “Sister Stella L” is among the guests of honor, along with Interior Secretary Alfredo Lim, San Juan Mayor Jinggoy Estrada, Chairman Jaime Laya of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Mandaluyong City Mayor Benhur Abalos, Parañaque Mayor Joey Marquez and other leaders of the Filipino movie industry.

The festival is project of the Mowelfund Film Institute headed by Nick Deocampo, festival programmer, in cooperation with the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, and the Film Academy of the Philippines in cooperation with SM Supermalls, ABS-CBN and Star Cinema.