Anita Linda named best actress in Asia Pacific film fest

Veteran Filipina actress Anita Linda was awarded Best Actress at the 54th Asia Pacific Film Fest in Taiwan for her role in the multi-awarded film Lola. The 86-year-old actress bested nominees from 56 films coming from 18 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a report by The China Post posted on the news site AsiaOne. The awards night was held at the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei on Saturday night. Lola was directed by Brillante Mendoza, who won the prestigious Best Director award at the 2009 Cannes International Film Festival for his movie Kinatay. Lola features cinema icons Anita Linda and Rustica Carpio, two grandmothers brought together by tragedy in a robbery-homicide where the grandsons they love most are the victim and the accused. Before its most recent achievement, Lola also snagged awards in other international film festivals this year, including the Best Film award at the 8th Asian Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize at the 27th Miami International Film Festival. Linda, Alice Lake in real life, has appeared in such movies as Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang (1974), Isa Dalawa Tatlo (1974), Jaguar (1979) and Gumapang ka sa Lusak (1990) by Lino Brocka; Sister Stella L. (1984) by Mike de Leon; Itanong Mo sa Buwan by Chito Roño; and Ang Babae sa Bubungang Lata (1998) by Mario O’Hara. In 2008, she won several awards, including Best Actress, in the 10th Cinemanila International Film Festival for her role in the independent film Adela. – VVP/YA, GMANews.TV