Brillante Mendoza is a renowned Philippine director and producer, making him the first Filipino to receive the prestigious Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival for his film Kinatay in 2009. He is also the only Filipino to receive France's esteemed "Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres" (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) in 2014.
Born on October 30, 1960, in San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines, Mendoza studied Advertising Arts at the University of Santo Tomas. He began his career in advertising, eventually transitioning to become a production designer. It wasn't until his forties that he directed his first film, Masahista, which won the 2005 Locarno International Film Festival's Golden Leopard (video competition).
Mendoza's films have garnered numerous awards and nominations in major competitions, including the Venice, Berlin, Cannes, San Sebastian, Cairo, and others. His film Mindanao in 2019 received the Henry Barakat Best Artistic Contribution and Best Actress awards, while Alpha: The Right to Kill took home the Special Jury Prize in the San Sebastian International Film Festival in 2018.
In 2016, Ma Rosa was nominated for the Cannes' Palm d'Or and won Best Actress for Jaclyn Jose, the first Filipina to receive this honor. Taklub, which tackles climate change, was nominated for the Un Certain Regard and won the Ecumenical Jury Prize in the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. Captive, starring Isabelle Huppert, competed for the Golden Bear at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival.
Mendoza's film Thy Womb was selected for the main competition in the 2012 Venice Film Festival and won the La Navicella, P. Nazareno Taddei and Bisato d'Oro awards, as well as the Best Director award at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Lola, in 2009, was the Best Feature Film in the Dubai International Film Festival and was nominated for the Venice's Golden Lion.
In 2007, Tirador won the Singapore International Film Festival's Best Director and Best Asian Feature Award, as well as the Caligari Film Award in Berlin. The same year, Serbis was the first Philippine film to be nominated for the Cannes' Palm d'Or. Foster Child was screened at the Directors Fortnight in Cannes and won the NETPAC Jury award in Brisbane.
Manoro, released in 2006, took home the Cinema for Peace award at the Torino Film Festival. Mendoza's upcoming films include Resbak and the Philippine-Japanese co-produced sports biopic Gensan Punch (2020). He has also produced successful festival films such as Kintsugi (2020),Verdict (2019),Pailalim (2016),and Imbisibol (2015),and is set to produce The Brokers, scheduled for release soon.
