Toronto festival premiere for John Lloyd Cruz film

The week in Philippine pop culture: John Lloyd Cruz film to premiere in Toronto; Pinoy Big Brother celebrates 10th anniversary; Filipino art shines in Venice Biennale; Lav Diaz honoured with global retrospectives; and The Voice Kids names final four.

John Lloyd Cruz in Honor Thy Father Pier Marco Tacca / Getty Images

An independent film starring popular Filipino actor John Lloyd Cruz is set to debut at the Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Erik Matti, the crime thriller Honor Thy Father stars Cruz and Meryll Soriano as a pair of white-collar swindlers. The film will screen as part of the festival's Contemporary World Cinema section. ­Lawrence Fajardo's Imbisibol (Invisible), which won the top prize at this year's Sinag Maynila Independent Film Festival, will also screen at the festival. It tells the story of undocumented Filipino workers in Japan. The festival runs from September 10 to 20.

Pinoy Big Brother celebrates its 10th anniversary

A formal ball was held inside the Pinoy Big Brother house last weekend to celebrate the programme's 10th anniversary. The 11 remaining housemates dressed up for the occasion, which also featured the return of winners from previous seasons, including Nene Tamayo (season one), Keanna Reeves (from the celebrity edition) and Myrtle Sarrosa (from the teenagers' edition). Big Brother, known in the Philippine edition as Kuya, also made a surprise appearance at the ball, though he was hidden behind a screen, with only his silhouette visible. To mark the anniversary, he gave the current housemates and past winners a special task he called the "Big Mission": to team up and raise money to build houses for 20 underprivileged families. Showrunner Laurenti Dyogi posted on Twitter: "Thank you to the entire team and more than 200 housemates for making PBB part of Pinoy pop culture! PBB has changed the lives of a lot of people, including myself." The anniversary edition was a ratings hit and trended worldwide on Twitter. The reality competition was back to business the next day, as the housemates were required to nominate two people for ­eviction. Filipino-British model Margo Midwinter and overseas worker James Linao earned the most nominations and will face the latest public vote to ­decide who leaves the house this ­weekend.

Filipino art shines in Venice Biennale

Returning to the Venice Biennale after a 50-year hiatus, the Philippine Pavilion has been making a splash at the international contemporary art exhibition. Art Radar has cited it as one of the 10 must-sees at the Biennale, while auction house Christie’s selected the Philippine Pavilion as one of its top 11 picks among the 88 national pavilions. Curated by art academic Patrick Flores, the Pavilion features the exhibition Tie A String Around the World, a line from Filipino director Manuel Conde’s 1950 film Genghis Khan. The acclaimed classic premiered at the 1952 Venice Film Festival and has returned to the Italian city in a newly restored version. It is presented alongside works by multimedia artists Mariano Montelibano III and Jose Tence Ruiz. Meanwhile, the works of Filipino interdisciplinary artist Jing Turalba and abstractionists Gus Albor and Lito Carating are featured in the Personal Structures-Crossing Borders exhibition. Although not an official Biennale event, it is organised by the European Cultural Centre and is held in the same venue as the Philippine pavilion. Last weekend, the 73-year-old Filipino multimedia artist David Medalla was featured in a series of events at the Biennale, including two performances and a talk on Philippine culture. The Venice Biennale runs until November 22.

Lav Diaz honoured with global retrospectives

The films of Filipino director Lav Diaz will be featured in retrospective programmes in four countries. From September until December, the Korean Film Archive in Seoul has organised monthly screenings of his films, including the eight-hour Melancholia (2008). In Paris, the Jeau de Paume arts centre will screen 11 of his films between November 3 and December 5. The Cinematek Belgium in Brussels will present 15 of his works from November 11 to 13 – a slate that includes his most recent film, From What Is Before, which won the top prize at the 2014 Locarno Film Festival. The Australian Cinémathèque in Brisbane will also hold screenings of his work, from November until April 2016.

The Voice Kids names final four

The six finalists of The Voice Kids Philippines competed last weekend, with only four of the young hopefuls advancing to this week’s grand finale. They are Sassa Dagdag and Elha Nympha, from celebrity coach Bamboo Mañalac’s team, and Reynan Dal-Anay and Esang de Torres from Lea Salonga’s team. Coach Sarah Geronimo’s singers, Zephanie Dimaranan and Kyle Echarri, were both eliminated after receiving the fewest audience votes. Last season, Geronimo’s singers Lyca Gairanod and Darren Espanto finished first and second respectively. Dal-Anay, an 11-year-old Tigwahanon Manobo tribe member who performs wearing the tribe’s traditional garb, appears to be the one to beat after ­receiving 33 per cent of total votes, compared with ­second-placed de Torres who got 19 per cent. “I have nothing to say. You gave me goosebumps. It was really just so beautiful,” Salonga told Dal-Anay after his emotional performance of the classic track Itanong Mo Sa Mga Bata (Ask the Children) by the 1970s Filipino folk rock band Asin.

* This article has been amended to reflect that the Personal Structures-Crossing Borders was part of a show organised by the European Cultural Centre in the same venue as that of other official Biennale pavilions. The original story said it was organised as part of the Venice Biennale.