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Arroyo cites Kinatay director for winning Cannes 2009 award


MANILA, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo lauded on Thursday 62nd Cannes Film Festival best director award winner Brillante “Dante" Mendoza for his movie Kinatay. “Being the first Filipino to have won such an award obviously makes Director Mendoza one of the best filmmakers of our time," the president said in a statement. Arroyo said the director’s extraordinary feat brings pride to every Filipino and will be an inspiration to our filmmakers to strive harder for global recognition. Kinatay, also titled The Execution of P, depicts social realities and serves as an eye-opener for moral recovery and social transformation, Arroyo said. The movie previously titled "Chop Chop," is based on victims whose body parts have been chopped off and mutilated by killers. “His accomplishments and those of other artists in the various disciplines who have been raking in honors for the country attest to our people’s wealth of talents that enable us to withstand and overcome the challenges of our times," said the president. Mendoza beat renowned world filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds) and Ang Lee (Taking Woodstock) for the category. Mendoza is the first Filipino to win the award at Cannes for a full-length film. Mendoza made his debut at Cannes last year with Serbis, which was also “in competition." “Manila, directed by Adolfo Alix Jr. and Raya Martin, and, Independencia, also directed by Raya, are the two other Filipino films to have entered the prestigious Cannes Festival held annually in the city of Cannes in southeastern France. Two short films also participated in Cannes 2009. These are: Sabongero, directed by Filipino-American Janice Perez, and the animated short Manong Maong, helmed by Aissa Peñafiel and Miguel Ocampo. Twenty films competed for the highest honor of Cannes, the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm Award). The prestigious award went to Austrian director Michael Haneke for Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon) while the Grand Prix award was given to French filmmaker Jacques Audiard for Un Prophete (A Prophet). The Jury Prize was shared by the films Fish Tank directed by Andrea Arnold and Bak-Jwi (Thirst) directed by Park Chan-Wook. It is interesting to note that Filipina actress Mercedes Cabral played important roles in two award-winning films in Cannes . She was handpicked to portray a Filipina married to a Korean in the vampire film Bak-Jwi and she played the wife of Coco Martin in Kinatay. In the Un Certain Regard section, the film Police Adjective of Corneliu Porumboiu ( Romania ) took the top jury prize. Raya Martin's Independencia, a historical drama starring Sid Lucero and Tetchie Agbayani, is the Philippines ' first entry to this section. Adolfo Alix Jr. and Raya Martin's Manila, starring Piolo Pascual, was one of ten films given a special screening but it did not compete in Cannes. The 62nd edition of Cannes ran May 14 through May 24, 2009. - GMANews.TV
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