DAVAO CITY, Philippines?Limbunan, a film by Moro filmmaker Teng Mangansakan, will screen during the Critics? Week of the prestigious Venice International Film Festival in September.

Mangansakan told the Inquirer he was invited by the organizers to the festival, which will be held from September 1 to 11.

Limbunan, a story about the wedding of a Moro girl, is the only Filipino-made film invited to the festival this year, he said.

Limbunan tells the story of 16-year-old Ayesah who was forced to marry a man she barely knew and didn?t love at all. With this, Ayesah is confroned by the dilemma of having to choose between tradition and love of family over her own happiness.

?This is a great honor. This proved that I did something good,? Mangansakan said.

The fact that the film made it to Venice, the second most prestigious film festival in the world, is an honor ?more for the untold real stories of the people in Mindanao and the people out to tell them to the world,? he said.

Limbunan, a Cinemalaya 2010 finalist in the Full-Length Feature category, will be featured at the closing of the festival.

The other films to be featured in the competition are Angèle et Tony (Angèle and Tony) by Alix Delaporte of France, Hai paura del buio by Massimo Coppola of Italy, Hitparzut X (Naomi) by Eitan Zur of Israel-France, Hora proelefsis (Homeland) by Syllas Tzoumerkas of Greece, Martha (id.) by Marcelino Islas Hernández of Mexico, Oca (Dad) by Vlado ?kafar of Slovenia and Svinalängorna (Beyond) by Pernilla August of Sweden.

Locally, Limbunan has been getting good reviews.

?Its stylized storytelling and its undeniable splendor, is very personal ode to this often misunderstood and misrepresented cultural roots,? Lawyer Francis Cruz said.

Philbert Ortiz Dy, the resident film critic of clickthecity.com said: ?[Limbunan] is striking for its patience, and its graceful exploration of a culture that would otherwise face condemnation in the hands of a less nuanced and open filmmaker.?

?The film is just beautiful, both visually and thematically. Mangansakan imparts a dreamlike atmosphere to even the most mundane of actions, drawing a connection between past and present, family and culture, tradition and self-actualization,? Dy said.