Influential director Lino Brocka leads a string of Filipino filmmakers at this year’s Vienna International Film Festival in Austria. The event, known as the Viennale, showcased independent Filipino cinema alongside creative talents from all over the world.

The annual Viennale is the most important film event in Austria, as well as being the oldest festival in the German-speaking world. Attended by over 90,000 moviegoers, it exhibits independent films from Europe and the rest of the world at venues across Vienna, including Gartenbau, Kunstlerhaus, Urania, Stadtkino, Metro, and the Austrian Film Museum. The event runs between October and November every year.

Alongside Brocka and other filmmakers, the works of Filipino artists Brillante Mendoza, Raya Martin, Lav Diaz, and Khavn De La Cruz were included in the official selection at this year’s festival.

Lino Brocka

The Viennale devoted a tribute program for Filipino director Lino Brocka, alongside British actress Tilda Swinton and American actor Timothy Carey. The autodidact filmmaker, who died in 1991, is often credited as the father of modern Philippine cinema.

Most of his films were produced during the Martial Law era under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. It is believed that Brocka had to illegally smuggle his films out of the country in order to screen it in film festivals around the world.

Brocka created approximately 75 films spanning a period of 20 years, a selection of which has been chosen for the festival, including “Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag”, “Stardoom”, “Bona”, “Insiang”, and “Tatlo, Dalawa, Isa”.

Brillante Mendoza

Brillante Mendoza has been a regular fixture at international film festivals in the last few years. His latest project, “Lola”, was included in this year’s Viennale, following its premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

Starring Anita Linda, Rustica Carpio and Tanya Gomez, it follows the story of two impoverished grandmothers as they deal with the repercussions of a crime involving their grandchildren - one was the victim, the other the perpetrator.

Raya Martin

At the tender age of 25, Raya Martin has already carved a growing reputation in the international festival circuit. His film “Maynila”, starring Piolo Pascual, was recently exhibited at the Cannes Film Festival. This year’s Viennale selected two of his projects, “Independencia” and “Next Attraction”.

“Independencia” is part of a trilogy about periods of struggle in Philippine history. Set in the early part of the twentieth century, it tells the story of a man who chose to have a hermetic existence to avoid the onset of war. Shot entirely in a studio using fake props and backdrops, it explores the universal threat of external forces that can alter people’s lives. It features Techie Agbayani, Sid Lucero, Alessandra de Rossi, and Mika Aguilos.

“Next Attraction”, also part of a trilogy, is a film about filmmaking. Starring Coco Martin, Paolo Rivero and Jaclyn Jose, it is a mockumentary that follows a string of interesting characters who are attempting to make a film.

Lav Diaz

Lav Diaz has been selected for the Viennale as part of a collaborative project with other filmmakers from South Korea and Japan. Supported by Jeonju International Film Festival, Diaz was among three directors to be chosen to work on a collection of short films called Visitors.

Her segment, entitled “Butterflies Have No Memories”, is a portrait of three young men who lost their jobs at a gold mine, and whose lives were consequently thrown into a daze of drunken aberration.

Khavn De La Cruz

Khavn De La Cruz was invited at the Viennale to curate the Lino Brocka tribute, helping with the selection, research and presentation of the director’s work. Based in Quezon City, he is a filmmaker, writer and musician who also engages with independent projects through his production company, Filmless Films. He studied economics, film and literature at the University of Manila.