Award-winning Filipino director, Brillante Mendoza, 54, is back in Cannes for the fourth time.
“This is like home to me,” the University of Santo Tomas alum told us when we interviewed him at the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) booth at the International Village along the Boulevard de la Croissette. “I miss my friends here in Cannes,” he added. “It’s so nice to be back here after six years.”
The first time this San Fernando, Pampanga-born director was in Cannes was for his film Foster Child in 2007, then Serbis (Service) in 2008 that was nominated for the Palme d’Or in the main competition. He was back the following year in 2009 with Kinatay (Butchered: The Execution of P) which was also nominated for the Palme d’Or in the main competition. He won the Best Director Award for the said film.
This year, Mendoza is joining the Un Certain Regard for the first time with his film, Taklub (Trap) that stars no less than Filipino award-winning actress Nora Aunor, who is considered as Philippine cinema’s superstar and the People’s National Artist.
The Filipino drama film, according to Mendoza is about the struggles of the survivors of one of the strongest typhoons that hit the Philippines, Typhoon Haiyan also known as Typhoon Yolanda. “It tells the story of some of the victims and how they picked up their lives a year after the typhoon especially in Tacloban, Leyte which is the hardest hit area in the Philippines,” Mendoza said.
With a population of more than 220,000, Tacloban suffered a death toll of 6,201 when Yolanda struck on November 8, 2014. Aunor portrays Lianora Lariosa, nicknamed Babeth, who is one of the survivors who lives with her teenage daughter Angela (portrayed by Shine Santos).
Others in the cast include Julio Diaz (as Larry), Lou Veloso (as Renato), Aaron Rivera (as Erwin), Ruby Ruiz (as Kagawad Duke), Romalito Mallari (as Marlon), Soliman Cruz, Glenda Kennedy, and John Rendez.
Produced by Mendoza’s Centerstage Productions and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in cooperation with the Presidential Communications Operations Office-Philippines Information Agency through the endorsement of Senator Loren Legarda, the movie had been getting rave reviews from various film critics.
Chief Asia film critic of Variety, Maggie Lee wrote, Taklub, Filipino auteur Brillante Mendoza’s portrait of three surviving families a year after Typhoon Yolanda ripped through the city of Tacloban, is more concerned with their emotional devastation than with the physical aftermath. Shot in a no-frills documentary style that echoes its subjects’ deprivation, the film is at once intimate and detached in its dramatic economy, though the finale will leave many viewers saddened yet humbled. Without the provocative content of films like Serbis or Kinatay, it will be hard for this quiet work to make a dent in European art house circles. Domestic response will be much warmer, given its relevance, but mostly thanks to the reverence that lead actress Nora Aunor commands.”
According to Mendoza, his team that includes “supporting actor Aaron Rivera, my protégé filmmaker Raymond Gutierrez and friends from the Philippines including Senator Loren Legarda” accompanied him in Cannes.
Asked who he thought was his stiff competitor, Mendoza said, “I haven’t seen any film yet but I would love to see a film tomorrow. But we have many activities. I just love being here in Cannes. That is a great honor already to be here. I am here not to win an award but to present a film representing the Filipino people, especially the people affected by the typhoon in Tacloban.”
So after Cannes, where is he headed next? “I don’t know yet,” he admitted. “The film has a distributor already who is going to take care of the film. There is lots of interest already to have our film which is a good sign.”
Janet R. Nepales