CANNES, FRANCE—Brillante "Dante" Mendoza, the current fair-haired boy of Philippine cinema is hard pressed to sustain his charmed record, starting off with Masahista in 2005 that won the Golden Leopard award at Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland; Kaleldo that won at Jeonju, South Korea in 2006; Manoro, Best Picture and Best Director at CineManila 2006; Tirador in 2007 that won at Marrakech in Morocco and Berlin; Foster Child that was screened at the Director's Fortnight of Cannes last year to a standing ovation, and that also won at Las Palmas.
There seems to be no stopping Mendoza and his yearly triumphs. This week, all eyes are on him as he carries the Filipino dream of a Cannes win on his shoulders. His film Serbis is among the 22 films in competition at the Cannes International Film Festival.
Twenty-two films are competing from all over the world. This includes three films from the USA; three from France; two from Italy; two from Argentina; and one each from Canada, Turkey, Belgium, Israel, Singapore, Hungary, Brazil, China, and Germany; with Mendoza representing the Philippines.
Much has already been written about how Mendoza is the first to be accepted in competition since Lino Brocka in the ‘80s.
While the most visible media-wise are the American entries from Clint Eastwood's The Changeling with Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich as leads as well as Steven Soderbergh's two-part story on Che Guevara—also geared to become mainstream hits—there are many other smaller, even more interesting, entries that include the Philippine entry.
Many are Cannes veterans led by Wim Wenders of Germany with 10 nominations and two wins of the Palme de'Or or Golden Palm, the highest award for films in competition. His current entry The Palermo Shooting tells of a man who leaves a life of stress behind for new adventures.
The brothers Jean-Pierre and Luk Dardenne from Belgium—whose entry The Silence of Lorna about an Albanian woman who marries for convenience to get legal papers—could very well refer to the Filipino domestics in Belgium. The brothers have won the Golden Palm twice, in 1999 and 2005.
The enfant terrible of Cannes, Steven Soderbergh in 1989 was the youngest at age 26 to win the Palme d'Or for his first feature film Sex, Lies and Videotape. He has been nominated in Cannes for The Argentine and King of the Hill. In 2000, his Erin Brockovich and Traffic were simultaneously nominated for the Oscars where he won Best Director for Traffic. Soderbergh was also a member of the jury at Cannes in 2003.
Others, like Arnaud Desplechin from France, have had four nominations; Atom Egoyan of Canada, five nominations; Paolo Sorrentino of Italy, three.
All these achievements, however, shouldn't faze the other participants. After all, the proof of the pudding is still in the eating.
From Turkey is an engaging story of lies upon lies covering up the truth. It would likewise be interesting to find how the German entry, in animation, deals with war in Lebanon. The pursuit of power and money and the mafiosi are subjects of two entries, both from Italy. Argentina fields a psychological drama, and Hungary delves into an "unnatural" relationship between brother and sister.
What are the chances of Dante Mendoza in this milieu? Serbis tells the story of a family using a provincial movie house in Angeles City to field young boys to "service" clients with sex. In shock value alone, Serbis is bound to pack a wallop.
On the record of Mendoza for the past three years, things have never looked better. With Bing Lao as writer, Jaclyn Jose and Gina Pareño in the cast, there can only be unquestionable excellence.
Will the Philippines then bring home the bacon for the first time from Cannes with the coveted Palme d'Or? In a week's time, our hopes and prayers should be answered.