Nadine Lustre won Best Lead Actress for her role in Deleter at the 2022 Metro Manila Film Festival awards. Photo: Viva Films / YouTube
Nadine Lustre won Best Lead Actress for her role in Deleter at the 2022 Metro Manila Film Festival awards. Photo: Viva Films / YouTube
Nadine Lustre won Best Lead Actress for her role in Deleter at the 2022 Metro Manila Film Festival awards. Photo: Viva Films / YouTube
Nadine Lustre won Best Lead Actress for her role in Deleter at the 2022 Metro Manila Film Festival awards. Photo: Viva Films / YouTube

Filipino film Deleter to hit UAE cinemas after huge local success


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Filipino movie Deleter is having its premiere in the UAE on Tuesday, following its critical and commercial success in the Philippines.

The psychological thriller follows Lyra, played by the illustrious Nadine Lustre, whose day job is to delete disturbing content from a social media platform. The story takes an eerie turn when a colleague goes missing, and Lyra gets involved in the investigation.

Directed by Mikhail Red, Deleter is hitting Star Cinemas in Al Ghurair Centre on Tuesday, followed by Vox Cinemas on Thursday.

The movie earned high praise in the Philippines, with Lustre also taking the spotlight for her performance. The actress, 29, is typically known for her roles in hit romcom movies.

Deleter was Red's entry to the 2022 Metro Manila Film Festival, one of the oldest film festivals in the South-East Asian country. It is held annually from December 25 to the first weekend of January, with only local films shown in cinemas across Metro Manila over its duration.

The festival concludes with a glittering award ceremony called MMFF Gabi ng Parangal, where the line-up competes for major film and acting awards, similar to international events such as the Oscars.

Red's Deleter bagged the top award of the night. Aside from Best Picture, the movie also took home six other major trophies, including Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Lead Actress for Lustre.

It also won three technical awards, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects and Best Editing.

It is the only 2022 MMFF movie that is confirmed to screen in the UAE so far.

Aside from its critical success, the movie reportedly earned Dh661,503 (10 million Philippines pesos) on the first day of the festival, making it one of the single-day top-grossing MMFF films. As of December 31, the film had already reached 126 million Philippines pesos, according to local media.

The Vile

Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah

Director: Majid Al Ansari

Rating: 4/5

Where to donate in the UAE

The Emirates Charity Portal

You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.

The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments

The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.

Al Noor Special Needs Centre

You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.

Beit Al Khair Society

Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.

Dar Al Ber Society

Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.

Dubai Cares

Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.

Emirates Airline Foundation

Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.

Emirates Red Crescent

On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.

Gulf for Good

Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.

Noor Dubai Foundation

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).

Quick pearls of wisdom

Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”

Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.” 

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Price: From Dh126,000

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Updated: January 08, 2023, 1:59 PM