MANILA, Philippines?(UPDATE) Filipino director Brillante Mendoza?s ?Lola? won Best Film in the 6th Dubai International Film Festival, held in the Persian Gulf state from Dec. 9-16.

The Filipino film topped over 513 entries in the Muhr Asia-Africa feature film section, winning US$50,000 (or P2.3 million) for its director, according to the festival?s website.

It?s a big cash prize for an independent film that focuses on poverty.

The festival?s website described Lola (Filipino for grandmother) as a ?simple tale, yet loaded with emotion and profound moral dilemmas.?

It tells the story of two impoverished grandmothers whose grandsons figure in a murder case?as the victim and the accused, respectively.

The film follows the two grandmothers as one struggles to bury her grandson, while the other attempts to bail her grandson, a suspected cellphone snatcher, out of jail.

Lola, which top-bills veteran actresses Anita Linda and Rustica Carpio, was also the country?s ?surprise? entry in the Venice International Film Festival last September.

Lola was praised by critics in Venice, according to wire reports.

It is Mendoza?s third major honor this year?after winning Best Director awards in Cannes last May and in Sitges (Spain) last October for ?Kinatay.?

News of Lola?s win was relayed to the INQUIRER via SMS Thursday by Mendoza who attended the event in Dubai.

Lead actress Anita Linda, who plays a senior citizen living in a flooded shanty town, told the INQUIRER in a phone interview on Thursday: ?I am happy and proud that our simple film won in Dubai, that it brought honor to a small country like ours by besting films from other nations.?

The film?s triumph, she said, ?gives encouragement to other independent Filipino filmmakers. It?s a big help. It proves that Philippine cinema isn?t dying at all.?

The Asia-Africa Feature Film jury was headed by Iranian filmmaker Bahman Farmanara and included Moroccan filmmaker Nour-Eddine Lakhmari, Nepali actress Manisha Koirala, among others.

According to the festival?s website, Farmanara said: ?Judging isn?t an easy process ... [but it becomes] very pleasing when the quality of films ... is outstanding. It?s rewarding.?

He described this year?s lineup as ?extremely encouraging ... [prompting] us to look forward to watching good, powerful films from Asia and Africa in the future.?

Special Jury Prize went to Mohammad Rasoulof?s ?The White Meadows? of Iran; Best Actor to Iran?s Hasan Pourshirazi of ?The White Meadows?; Best Actress to South Africa?s Denise Newman of ?Shirley Adams?; Best Screenplay to South Korea?s Eun-kyo Park and Bong Joon-ho for ?Mother.?

In spite of Dubai?s recent debt crisis, the film fest pushed through, handing out 28 awards for ?acting and cinematic excellence? and cash prizes totaling US$575,000.

The website said this year?s entries were from more than 62 countries across Asia, Africa, the Americas, Australia and Europe. The entries competed in thee categories: documentaries, short films and feature films.

Apart from Lola, two other Filipino films were screened in Dubai this year: Raymond Red?s ?Himpapawid,? which was featured in the non-competitive section Cinema of Asia-Africa and Richard Legazpi?s ?Kinulayang Kiti? which competed in the Asia-Africa short film category.