MANILA, Philippines??An incredible film.? ?Very powerful images.? ?Deeply moving.? ?Makes you wonder about the beauty of the (Filipino) language.?

These were some of the comments that Filipino audiences overheard from foreign cineastes after the screening of director Dante Mendoza?s ?Lola,? at the opening of the 11th Cinemanila International Film Festival in Taguig.

?Lola,? which kicked off Cinemanila?s 10-day run at the Market! Market! Cinemas in Bonifacio Global City, was screened without subtitles before a capacity crowd, which included foreign filmmakers, actors and film buffs.

The film proved that moving images can be more powerful than words. In this case, it even gave our language some degree of mystique.

Top-billing veteran actress Anita Linda, ?Lola? tells the story of two elderly women who find themselves on opposing ends of a murder case involving their grandsons. While one struggles to raise money to have her grandson buried, the other takes pains to save hers from a life in jail.

?Lola,? which was part of the Official Selection at the 2009 Venice Film Festival, is Mendoza?s follow-up to his Cannes Best Director-winning work, ?Kinatay.?

But while ?Kinatay,? like his other previous Cannes entry ?Serbis,? elicited mixed reviews for its graphic scenes, ?Lola? focuses on the heartrending struggle of the elderly to look after their grandchildren, despite poor health and abject poverty.

Shot mostly in stormy weather and partly set in a flooded slum, ?Lola? was a fitting opening to the festival, which comes at the heels of two major calamities that hit the country.

?Project Tropical Storm?

Founding director Amable ?Tikoy? Aguiluz VI said that as a tribute to the victims and heroes of the floods, Cinemanila is presenting ?Project Tropical Storm: Mga Imahe sa Loob ng Bagyong Ondoy,? a video compilation of stories of people affected by the tragedy, which will be screened in various barangays.

?Our filmmakers are no longer in an ivory tower,? he said, pertaining to the subjects of films that joined Cinemanila. ?They help our people by continuing to make films.?

Aguiluz cited Mendoza?s recent win at Cannes as a triumph for Philippine filmmaking. ?We have amazed and moved foreigners with our movies,? Aguiluz pointed out.

Mendoza, meanwhile, wishes more people will support Cinemanila. ?This is the only international film festival we have here,? he said.

Cinemanila will screen over 100 full-length features, shorts and documentaries from all over the world. Eleven films are in the Main Competition section, including the lone Philippine entry, ?Independencia,? by Raya Martin.