PH film competes in Canada, France

Laila Ulao in “Women of the Weeping River”

Sheron Dayoc’s acclaimed film “Women of the Weeping River” will be competing in two international festivals this month.

The Gawad Urian best picture winner is vying for the top prize at the 40th Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, to be held in Montreal, Canada from Oct. 4 to 15. Dayoc’s film will also be in the running at the 5th War on Screen International Film Festival, set in Châlons-en-Champagne, France from Oct. 4 to 7.

“I am very pleased that we are given the opportunity to share our small story with foreign audiences,” Dayoc told the Inquirer. “I hope that, through this film, we can give them a glimpse into, and a deeper perspective on, the conflict in Mindanao.”

He explained that the unrest in the south is “rooted in a culture of violence. I believe that before we can address the political turmoil, we first need to look into this cycle of hostility.”

The website of the Montreal fest describes the Filipino film as “an homage to women … despite losing their loved ones, [they] do everything they can to preserve the family unit.”

Montreal organizers hail “Women of the Weeping River” as “a stunning film [that] highlights one of the many forgotten conflicts [in] the world.”

According to its site, the Montreal fest is “a showcase for cinema of all types—from offbeat, one-of-a-kind niche works to crowd-pleasers and daringly innovative big events. Films that make your heart race, bowl you over and change your life. Films that break down the language of cinema, only to reinvent it; films that leave you breathless on the edge of your seat. Cinema at its best.”

The Montreal fest previously introduced such esteemed filmmakers as Atom Egoyan, Denis Villeneuve, Jim Jarmush, Jane Campion, Alfonso Cuaron, Wim Wenders and Wong Kar-wai to its audiences.

On the other hand, the Châlons-en-Champagne event seeks to present “a selection [that] illustrates the diversity of approaches, aesthetics, nationalities and conflicts.”

Cinema, the site explains, “mirrors all aspects of our world, touching our most intimate feelings, fears, joys, doubts and hopes.

Philippe Bachman, the fest’s chief executive officer, points out: “Each artist is unique; each spectator, irreplaceable.”

The Filipino film, which focuses on the effects of armed conflict on the people of Mindanao, will compete with works from the United States, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Denmark, Chile and Syria.

The fest’s website notes that some of the films in the lineup, including “Women of the Weeping River,” are “marked

by ghosts from the past that reappear in the lives of men and women who are trying to banish them and learn to live again.”