3 Filipino films in Toronto film fest

Three Filipino films will be screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada, from Sept. 8 to 18. The news was relayed to the Inquirer by filmmaker Lav Diaz, whose most recent work, “Ang Babaeng Humayo,” will be featured in Toronto’s Wavelengths section.

Diaz said that Brillante Ma. Mendoza’s “Ma’ Rosa” is included in Toronto’s Masters section, while the Mendoza-produced short film, Raymund Ribay Gutierrez’s “Imago,” is part of the Short Cuts lineup.

“Ma’ Rosa” and “Imago” competed in the Cannes Film Festival in May, while “Ang Babaeng Humayo” will vie for top prizes at the Venice International Film Festival, also in September.

According to the Toronto fest website, the Masters section “features the latest, boldest, [most] exciting and moving works” from “the most influential filmmakers” of contemporary world cinema.

Apart from Mendoza, also part of the Masters program are Wim Wenders, Pedro Almodovar, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Hong Sang-soo, Olivier Assayas, among others.

Meanwhile, the Wavelengths section presents “daring, visionary and autonomous voices.”

The Wavelengths selection, the fest’s website points out, “challenges the mainstream and seeks to replenish and redefine the art of cinema,” adding that this year’s list boasts “an exciting mix of master and award-winning filmmakers, leading contemporary artists and emerging new talent.”

The Short Cuts section, for its part, showcases “curated gems from Canada and the rest of the world.”

The site describes “Ang Babaeng Humayo” as an examination of the “economic disparity in modern Filipino society, as seen through the eyes of a woman (played by Charo Santos-Concio) who’s released from prison 30 years after being framed and wrongfully convicted.”

“Ma’ Rosa,” on the other hand, allows “Filipino firebrand” Mendoza to “incisively explore street-level corruption in Duterte-era Philippines with a tragicomic tale of a low-level drug dealer,” portrayed by Jaclyn Jose who won best actress at Cannes.

Lastly, “Imago” follows a middle-aged single mother (Ruby Ruiz) who works as a funeral agent, a job “rife with risk and desperation.”