After Lav Diaz’s win at the Berlin International Film Festival for Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapis, it’s now Brillante Mendoza’s turn to bring pride to the country as his film Ma’ Rosa is set to compete at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
Mendoza is an award-winning director whose films Serbis, Kinatay, and Taklub were screened in various editions of the Cannes. Serbis and Kinatay were nominated for the Palme d’Or, the festival’s highest distinction. Kinatay didn’t win the Palme d’Or, but it won the Best Director Award for Mendoza.
Ma’ Rosa tells the story of husband and wife Nestor and Rosa who use a sari-sari store as a cover-up for a drug business. It stars Jaclyn Jose, Julio Diaz, Andi Eigenmann, Felix Roco, and Jomari Angeles.
The film will be screened In Competition, against films by noted directors like Pedro Almodovar, Jim Jarmusch, Sean Penn, and Paul Verhoven.
Besides the Cannes, Mendoza’ work was nominated in the past for the Golden Lion in the Venice Film Festival and the Golden Bear in the Berlin Film Festival.
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