Filipino Director (Brillante Mendoza) Victorious at the Cannes Film Festival

Brilliante Mendoza was acclaimed best director for his film Kinatay at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival in Paris, France, (last May 25). This was the second consecutive year that he fielded an entry, his entry last year to the filmfest’s main competition was "Serbis". Mendoza won over big name directors like Quentin Tarantino (for "Inglourious Basterds"), Pedro Almodovar ("Los Abrazos Rotos"), Ang Lee ("Taking Woodstock"), Jane Campion ("Bright Star") and Lars von Trier ("AntiChrist").

The complete list of the 62nd Cannes Filmfest winners as released by the Associated Press is as follows:

Palme d’Or (Golden Palm): The White Ribbon by Michael Haneke (Austria)
Grand Prize: A Prophet by Jacques Audiard (France)
Jury Prize: Fish Tank by Andrea Arnold (Britain) and Thirst by Park Chan-wook (South Korea)
Special Prize: Alain Resnais
Best Director: Brilliante Mendoza for Kinatay (Philippines)
Best Actor: Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds (US)
Best Actress: Charlotte Gainsbourg for Anti-Christ (Denmark)
Best Screenplay: Feng Mei for Spring Fever (China)
Camera d’Or (first-time director): Samson and Delilah by Warwick Thornton (Australia)
Best Short Film: Arena by Joao Salaviza (Portugal)

Three other Filipino films were entries in this year’s Cannes Filmfest. These are:

–Independencia by Raya Martin for the Section Un Certain Regard.
–Manila by Raya Martin and Adolfo Alix Jr.
–Sabungero by Fil-Am Janice Perez in the short film corner.

In 2007, Mendoza entered "Foster Child" in the Directors’ Fortnight. In 2000, a film by Raymond Red, "Anino", won the Palme d’Or for Short Film.