2 PH films compete in Taiwan

PERRY Dizon’s “Of Cats, Dogs, Farm Animals and Sashimi”

Two Filipino films are in the lineup of the 10th Taiwan International Documentary Film Festival, ongoing in Taiwan until May 15.

Perry Dizon’s “Of Cats, Dogs, Farm Animals and Sashimi” and Hector Barretto Calma’s “Murmurs from the Somber Depths of Sta. Mesa” are vying for prizes with 13 other docus in the fest’s Asian Vision Competition.

According to its website, the fest seeks to highlight docus that are “creative, relevant to social and human interests and have unique points of view.”

The two Filipino films were selected from among 490 entries from all over Asia. The fest’s site noted that this year’s program is marked by “diversity” and tackles “various issues and cultural experiences.”

Calma’s film is a black-and-white homage to Sta. Mesa, a district in Manila, in which “each moving picture is accompanied by stories of grief, misery, hope and inspiration.”

Dizon’s “free-flowing yet melancholic” docu tells the coming-of-age story of a Subanen boy who works in a rubber plantation in Sitio Tangalan, Barangay Kawayan, in Zamboanga.

Fest organizers explained that Asian docus are “like a spinning swirl, stirring different ways of seeing in the representation of so-called reality.” Bayani San Diego Jr.

HECTOR Barretto Calma’s “Murmurs From the Somber Depths of Sta. Mesa”