Bishops may endorse ‘Tribu’

im Libiran's digitl film "TRIBU," which chronicles the activities of real-life gangsters in Tondo, may yet get the endorsement of Catholic bishops.

The Best Film in the full-length feature category of the all-digital 2007 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival and Competition was viewed by Bishops Chito Tagle and Deo Y¤iguez and seminarians on Friday night at the UP Film Center.

"I was told that the bishops would endorse the film if

they liked it," Libiran told Inquirer Entertainment in a phone interview on Friday morning.

"Tribu" won second Best Screenplay in the 2006 Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature.

The director said "Tribu" has received, and accepted, its invitation to compete in the international category of the Cinemanila International Film Festival, which is scheduled from Aug. 8 to 19 at the Gateway Mall in Quezon City.

"I plan to grab every chance I get to have the film shown because I'm afraid the MTRCB (Movie and Television Review and Classification Board) may not give it a favorable rating," said Libiran.

Meanwhile, the works of prize-winning filmmaker Khavn dela Cruz are set to be showcased this month in film screenings organized by the Asian Film Archive in Singapore, a nongovernmental organization founded to preserve the rich film heritage of Singapore and Asian cinema.

Dela Cruz has been described as one of the five "exciting digital filmmakers" to be featured in the series "Spotlight on Southeast Asian Digital Cinema" ongoing until December.

Thiam said different filmmakers will be featured every two weeks, with each director participating in a two-day filmmaking workshop with film students.
Marinel Cruz
Inquirer