PH docu competes in Taiwan

Joel Torrre delivers a crackerjack portrayal in “Kabisera.”

Filipino filmmaker Anna Isabelle Matutina’s “Magdalena” is competing in the Asian Vision section of the Taiwan International Film Festival, which will be held from Oct. 9 to 19. The docu, shown at the Wiesbaden (Germany) film fest last year, focuses on a traditional midwife who struggles to make ends meet and care for a pregnant daughter who’s afflicted with leukemia.

4 PH films in Laos

Four Filipino films, products of Cinema One Originals, will be featured at the 5th Luang Prabang Film Festival in Laos, set Dec. 6 to 10: Borgy Torre’s “Kabisera (The Patriarch),” Seige Ledesma’s “Shift,” Kevin Dayrit’s “Catnip” and Keith Deligero’s “Iskalawags.” The fest aims to “showcase the most compelling cinema from across Southeast Asia.” Bayani San Diego Jr.