It's great to know that our film industry is not only alive and kicking, but getting attention from all over the world also.

I hope you guys take time out to catch some of the festival's offerings. It'll be good for the industry and for our personal growth as well.

The 11th Cinemanila International Film Festival will be held from October 15 to 25, 2009 in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

Around 100 international and local films will be screened in a span of 10 days – from the current toasts of the local indie scene to the award-winners and favorites at prestigious festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Rotterdam, Sundance, and Pusan. The festival will also feature workshops, seminars and master classes. For more info, contact cinemanila.entries@gmail.com and cinemanila@gmail.com or go to www.cinemanila.org.ph.

Starting things off with a bang, the 11th Cinemanila International Film Festival showcases Brillante Mendoza’s latest work, Lola, as its opening film.

Director Mendoza’s latest work, Lola was preceded by his film Kinatay (The Execution of P), which earned him the prestigious Best Director Award at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival last May 2009.

Lola is slated as the Philippine surprise entry in the 66th Venice Film Festival, (Main Competition) which counts acclaimed filmmaker Ang Lee as Chairman of this year's jury.

Starring Philippine cinema icon Anita Linda in the leading role, Lola is about two elderly women who try to cope and survive life’s harsher realities for the elderly.

Both bear the consequences of a crime involving their respective grandsons — one is the victim, the other is the suspect. Both weak and poor, they laboriously solicit money in the midst of a storm — one for the victim’s burial, the other for the suspect’s bail bond.

Closing the festival is the much-anticipated Himpapawid (Manila Skies) from award-winning independent filmmaker Raymond Red.

Himpapawid, Red’s most recent film, is the closing film of the 2009 edition of the festival, which will run from October 15-25, 2009 at the Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

An official entry in the Main Competition of the 2009 Tokyo International Film Festival, Himpapawid tells “the astounding story of a lone deranged hijacker pushed to the edge of insanity as he struggles with the oppression of surviving in modern Philippine society.”

Inspired by the true story of the May 2000 PAL Flight 812 hijacking en route from Davao to Manila, the film follows the tale of a desperate man from the countryside on a wretched path to destruction that ultimately leads him to the insane hijacking of a plane.

The film showcases Raul Arellano in his first lead role together with veteran actors John Arcilla and Ronnie Lazaro.

Red, who secured the 2000 Cannes Palme d’Or for his short film Anino (Shadows), is one of the pioneers of the modern Filipino independent cinema movement.

As the source of inspiration for a new generation of independent filmmakers, he has been honing his craft at the outskirts of Philippine cinema while being a regular lecturer to numerous film workshops and mentor to a number of well-known indie filmmakers, doing his utmost to promote the independent scene movement.