A night of the elderly

By Nickie Wang

Independent films now set the standard in local filmmaking as far as the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (MPP) is concerned. From nominees to the big winners, independently-produced features dominated all categories in the 33rd edition of the annual Gawad Urian.

Internationally-acclaimed director Brillante Mendoza’s films Kinatay and Lola bagged the top honors in the awards night held at the University of the Philippines Cine Adarna on April 29.

Streaming Brillante’s flicks

By Nickie Wang

Brillante Mendoza has directed nine films since he started making movies in 2005. Three of these films (Tirador, Foster Child, Masahista) were exhibited at the Cannes Film Festival, and two others (Serbis and Kinatay) were part of the main competition.

To win best director award at Cannes Film Festival, which is considered as one of the oldest and most prestigious film festivals in the world, is not an ordinary achievement. The honor puts his name alongside the best filmmakers in the world like Quentin Tarantino and Ang Lee.

Recently, Brillante’s film Kinatay received two more awards at the Sitges International Film Festival in Spain. The director wanted to receive the Best Director and Best Original Soundtrack trophies but he was in Paris on the day of the awards night. He was having a meeting with a big film outfit that is willing to distribute his film Kinatay commercially.