Filipino filmmaker Jim Libiran calls for recognition of immigrant storytellers at Toronto authors festival

Filipino filmmaker and writer Jim Libiran called for greater recognition of immigrant storytellers during a 31 October panel on writing outside English and French at the Toronto International Festival of Authors.

Filipino filmmaker and writer Jim Libiran called for greater recognition of immigrant storytellers during an Oct. 31 panel at the Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA), Frequency News reported.

The session, Writing Outside English and French: Language, Audience, and Recognition in Canada, was presented in partnership with Qissa Festival at Northrop Frye Hall. TIFA lists Mostafa Al-A’sar, Jim Libiran and Loveen Gill as panellists, with Anam Zakaria as moderator. It explored what it means to write in a language other than English or French in Canada, and how the country's literary institutions might better recognize and support that work.

Rebuilding a career in Toronto

Frequency News says Libiran moved from the Philippines about two years ago. His debut feature film, Tribu, won best film at the 2007 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, and his other projects include Happyland, a film about young soccer players in Tondo, Manila. He estimated sending between 150 and 200 job applications in Canada but received only a handful of interviews, and eventually focused on developing his own artistic projects.

“They want the healthcare Filipino, they want the farmer Filipino, they want the factory worker Filipino,” Libiran said. “Canada wasn’t asking for a writer, filmmaker Filipino.”

Writing between languages

For Libiran, writing in English involves more than just translating Filipino words. He gave the example of the Filipino expression “tao po”, used when approaching someone's home, saying that with a 2,500-word limit, explaining “tao po” alone could take 100 words.

“I can write in English pero nalulungkot ako because it’s like cooking adobo in Canada,” he said. (I can write in English but I get sad because it’s like cooking adobo in Canada.)

Frequency News reports that other participants from India and Pakistan recognized similar experiences when Libiran described how students of his generation in the Philippines were encouraged to speak English rather than Filipino in school.

Recognition and community

Libiran was named to the 2025 CBC Nonfiction Prize long list for Death on the Seventh, and his published works include the poetry collection Pauwi sa Wala. In 2026 he received the Toronto Newcomer Artist Award, and he continues working in arts education through Kapwa Cultural Initiatives, according to Frequency News.

Frequency News says he argued that Filipino Canadians should also advocate for greater recognition and support from public institutions. “We pay taxes. We have to assert ourselves,” he said.

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