Award-winning actress and now award-winning producer Sylvia Sanchez shared in an interview how the current Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) changed their annual Christmas family routine and traditions.

Sylvia, as one of the producers for Nathan Studios, the company behind the internationally acclaimed film Topakk starring her son Arjo Atayde and Julia Montes, admits that everything changed swiftly. 

The actress-producer revealed she missed Noche Buena and chose to be a grandmother to her sick grandchild.

“Nag-spend kami ng Christmas sa bahay ng biyenan ko. Dapat nandoon na kami 10 p.m. Hindi ako nakatayo agad. Dumating kami doon 11 p.m. May sakit pa ang apo ko, yung anak ni Ria at ni Z. Inalagaan ko pa. Hindi ako nakakain ng Noche Buena. Ang ginawa ko nang gabi na yun, niyakap ko ang apo ko. Panay ang bulong ko sa kanya akin na lang ang sakit mo (We spent Christmas at my in-laws’. We were supposed to be there by 10 p.m. but I could not get up right away. We got there at around 11 p.m. And my grandson was sick. I took care of him. I was not able to eat during Noche Buena. All I did that night was hug my grandchild. I kept whispering to him, let your illness be mine),” Sylvia said.

On Christmas Day, Sylvia also passed on the traditional family reunion, an event she always attends for almost four decades.

“Kinabukasan, may get-together kami ng mga Atayde. Hindi ko nagawa yun, first time after 34 years. Ngayon lang kami hindi nakasama dahil sa Metro Manila Film Festival, pero masaya (The next day, we had a get-together with the Ataydes. I wasn’t able to join for the first time in 34 years. This is the only time we weren’t able to go because of the MMFF, but it was fun),” she added.

As a producer, she shared that bringing home a film recognized in various international film festivals is a great achievement. While she admitted feeling sad that the film has been showing in less number of theaters than others, she also maintained that box office takes should then not be compared.

The award-winning actress also revealed her learnings in the ongoing festival and her plans for the coming year.

“Instead na mag dwell ako sa mga issues magko-concentrate na lang ako kung paano ipo-promote ang pelikula namin dahil ang gagaling nila. Positive na lang kasi naniniwala pa rin ako sa word of mouth. Kung maganda pelikula mo, kakalat yan at papanoorin ka. Ang alam ko, kapag sumali ka sa MMFF, kailangan maganda materyal mo, magagaling ang artista mo, at next time, I’ll make sure talaga kung action tayo this year, next year bata naman tayo (Rather than dwelling on issues, I’ll just concentrate on how to promote the film because they are really good. I will stay positive because I still believe in word of mouth. If you have a good film, that will spread and people will come to watch you. I know that when you make it to the MMFF, your material should be good, your actors should be great and next time, I will make sure that if we have an action feature this year, next one we will have one for the youth),” she said.