FRANCE: Filipino director Brillante Mendoza awarded Best Director prize for his film "Kinatay"
Record ID:
385042
FRANCE: Filipino director Brillante Mendoza awarded Best Director prize for his film "Kinatay"
- Title: FRANCE: Filipino director Brillante Mendoza awarded Best Director prize for his film "Kinatay"
- Date: 25th May 2009
- Summary: CANNES, FRANCE (MAY 18, 2009) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) FILIPINO DIRECTOR BRILLANTE MENDOZA, SAYING: "It could happen to any one of us, you know, like you're leading an ordinary life. You wake up in the morning, you go to work, you go to a friend's house and then you stumble upon somebody that you don't know and suddenly you're in this situation, confronting that in the most unexpected place and time. So I think in that way it's already bothersome because it could happen to you."
- Embargoed: 9th June 2009 13:00
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- Location: France
- Country: France
- Reuters ID: LVAB13998ATLM0WONM6QIMXHLN3I
- Story Text: Filipino filmmaker Brillante Mendoza dedicated his win to the people of the Philippines after winning Best Director in Cannes on Sunday (May 24).
The director was In Competition last year with "Serbis" and is a relative unknown, compared with this year's festival which included some of the world's top filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Pedro Almodovar and Ang Lee.
"It feels so great. I'm up against these giants. This is my fourth year in the business. I've been to Cannes twice In Competition and now I have this award, what more could I want", he told Reuters Television.
When asked what he had to say to people back home he said: "Thank you very much. This is for all of us."
The film "Kinatay" which means slaughter in Tagalog follows Peping, a criminology student as he joins his friend on a mission to earn some cash but regrets his decision as events turn sour. The movie shows the gritty underbelly of the life of the streets and a distrust for police and authority.
"It could happen to any one of us, you know, like you're leading an ordinary life. You wake up in the morning, you go to work, you go to a friend's house and then you stumble upon somebody that you don't know and suddenly you're in this situation, confronting that in the most unexpected place and time. So I think in that way it's already bothersome because it could happen to you," he told Reuters on May 18 during interviews for the film.
The movie has little dialogue but instead is categorized by a number of scenes.
"It creates a certain kind of atmosphere, how does the film not have dialogue? And what you hear are the creaky sounds of the seats inside the van and the sounds outside the van and it makes it somehow more creepy because you don't know what's happening inside the van but when you're inside the van you can see everyone else having their own life, you know going to work, going to their life without knowing that inside that van there's someone about to be killed, about to be butchered," he explained.
Filipino films did particularly well this year in Cannes with two other filmmakers making a showing - "Manila" by "Adolfo Alix Jr., Raya Martin shown as a Special Screening and "Independence" by Raya Martin shown in Un Certain Regard. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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