Brillante Ma Mendoza

Director

July 30, 1960 (65 years)

San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines

Biography

Brillante Ma Mendoza (born on 30 July 1960) is a Filipino director. He is best known for directing the films Masahista (2005), Kaleldo (2006), Foster Child (2007), Serbis (2008), Kinatay (2009), Thy Womb (2012), Ma' Rosa (2016), and Mindanao (2019), among others.

Filmography

5.3

Virgin Forest

A photographer is tasked to take a photo of a rare flower thriving in the mountain, but he discovers women trapped in a hidden brothel for illegal loggers.

7.0

Basang Basa

Sisters Ninay and Tonette find their once unbreakable bond tested when they fall for the same man. What begins as sibling rivalry soon spirals into a dangerous game of passion, jealousy, and desire.

5.1

Palitan

When a dare pushes two couples into an orgy, suppressed feelings rekindle between the two ladies, who were once best friends and lovers.

4.8

AMO

Despite the Philippine government's crackdown on narcotics, high schooler Joseph expands his drug running while his cop uncle profits from corruption.

5.9

The Masseur

Iliac works in a massage parlor where the gay clients are given more than a shoulder kneading and back rub. When Iliac's father dies he must reconcile his job as a sex worker with the rest of his family.

N/A

Until She Remembers

When a struggling high school student is confronted with the painful fracture of her family, she seeks refuge far from the noise of her parents’ world. In the company of her grandmother and an old friend, she begins to see life from a distance---both tender and selfless. Her lessons and realizations are things that cannot be learned from books, but only from a life lived.

5.1

Venice 70: Future Reloaded

Made for the Venice Film Festival's 70th anniversary, seventy filmmakers made a short film between 60 and 90 seconds long on their interpretation of the future of cinema.

5.0

Sisid

A marine biologist tasked to rehabilitate a fish sanctuary, falls for Dennis, his diving assistant. The situation takes an unexpected turn when Jason's wife, Abby, finds out of the clandestine relationship between Jason and Dennis.

6.1

Serbis

A struggling family owns a Filipino porn theater where prostitutes conduct their business.

5.9

Captive

A dozen foreigners are kidnapped by a terrorist group in the Philippines.

3.5

Red

When the brutal murder of a teenage girl devastates his sleepy town, a troubled police officer begins an investigation that tests his limits.

6.5

Ma' Rosa

Ma’ Rosa has four children. She owns a small convenience store in a poor section of Manila where everybody knows her. To make ends meet, Rosa and her husband, Nestor, resell small amounts of narcotics on the side. One day, they get arrested. Rosa’s children are ready to do anything to buy their parents’ freedom from the corrupt police.

7.3

Grandmother

Two elderly women bear the consequences of a crime involving their respective grandsons. One is the victim, the other is the suspect. Both weak and poor, they laboriously solicit money in the midst of a storm, one for the victim's burial, the other for the suspect's bail bond.

6.2

The Execution of P

A young man tries to make some money so he can marry his girlfriend. He takes a job for $2,000 and then soon realizes that this job involves killing a woman.

N/A

Chameleon

A Filipino transgender woman, Marie, who is drawn into the Yakuza gangster life after befriending Ai, the rebellious daughter of a powerful Yakuza boss. Set against the pulsating background of the 1990s nightlife in Sapporo, Hokkaido, the film charts the almost impossible decisions Marie faced and her tumultuous journey to discovering family, love and ultimately her true identity.

N/A

Asian Three-Fold Mirror 2016: Reflections

This omnibus film brings together three globally acclaimed directors from Asia with a common theme 'Living Together in Asia' to depict the lives of characters who journey between Japan, Cambodia, the Philippines and Malaysia. Brillante Mendoza grapples with the issue of loss of national identity and home, with a story set in the Obihiro area of Hokkaido and Manila in the Philippines. Isao Yukisada directs a story in Malaysia where the Japanese army was once stationed but is now home to many Japanese retirees living out their remaining years. An elderly man has parted from his family in Japan to live alone in Penang, but when a new helper comes to the house, he slowly opens his mind and an unexpected bond forms between the two. Finally director Sotho Kulikar conveys a beautiful but heart-rending love story between a Japanese man and Cambodian woman that unfolds across past and present against the backdrop of Cambodia's civil war.

5.5

Gensan Punch

Nao Tsuyama, a disabled athlete, refuses to let his articifical leg hinder his dream to become a professional boxer. His remarkable journey takes him from Japan to the Philippines, and specifically the celebrated ‘Gensan’ quarter which has spawned worldwide stars such as the legendary Manny Pacquiao.

4.2

60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero

An anthology of one-minute films created by 51 international filmmakers on the theme of the death of cinema. Intended as an ode to 35mm, the film was screened one time only on a purpose-built 20x12 meter public cinema screen in the Port of Tallinn, Estonia, on 22 December 2011. A special projector was constructed for the event which allowed the actual filmstrip to be burnt at the same time as the film was shown.

N/A

Feast

A hit-and-run accident transpires two families. When her husband succumbs to death, Nita files a criminal case. Alfredo is sent to jail after pleading guilty in place of his son Rafael, but Rafael cannot be released from the burden of guilt.

2.8

Bahay na Pula

A woman and her husband come home to an old ancestral house she inherited from her grandma. As days go by, they realize something evil is living with them in the house.