KIFF Special - First world or third world, stories of struggle are same: Brillante Mendoza

Filipino director Brillante Mendoza had met Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia, the 2024 Grand Prix winner for ‘All We Imagine as Light’ and was mighty impressed by her style of cinema. For Mendoza, whose 2008 film ‘Serbis’ (Service) competed for the Palme d’Or in the main competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, it doesn’t matter whether audiences in his country or across the world primarily look for entertainment in cinema. He understands that most films are made to entertain. But Mendoza uses his craft to tell stories of struggle, poverty and marginalised people, believing that the humanity in those stories resonates with people across the world. “I don’t feel bad if a lot of people don’t watch my films. Painting is not for everyone. Art is also not for everyone,” the indie director smiled.

The retrospective of the 65-year-old Filipino filmmaker is currently on at the 31st Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF), where five of his award-winning films, including ‘Kinatay’, ‘Serbis’, ‘Lola’, ‘Sinapupunan’ and ‘Ma Rosa’ are being screened. ‘Millennium Post’ caught up with the filmmaker, whose country is battling with super typhoon Fung-Wong.

Your cinema often blurs the line between fiction and documentary. What draws you to this style of storytelling and how do you balance realism with cinematic expression?

I started off as a production designer and mostly worked on mainstream cinema. I knew that if I ever made a film, I would never make it the way mainstream directors were doing it. I wasn’t going to tell stories the way they told them because that’s not what happens in real life. Mainstream cinema is very popular in the Philippines; that’s what audiences want. They want to forget reality when they watch films. But my theory of filmmaking is different. I want to capture reality, something closer to a documentary, except that it has a narrative.

Many of your works, like ‘Ma’ Rosa’, ‘Kinatay’ and ‘Serbis’ explore the moral struggles of ordinary Filipinos. What compels you to return to themes of poverty, survival, and corruption?

Even though I was able to study in a city and had a comfortable life, my family background was not like that. And that’s how the majority of people in the Philippines live. That’s what I want to show, that’s what I want to tell the rest of the world. Whenever I take my films to Africa or India, people are able to connect because humanity is embedded in them. Even Filipinos sometimes don’t like me showing stories of struggle and poverty. But I am not showing these to put down my country. I show them so that everyone understands that, at the end of the day, we all share the same stories.

While growing up, which filmmakers inspired you the most?

I am inspired by the Dardenne brothers. Belgium or Europe is part of the first world, and we come from the third world, yet we have the same kinds of stories to tell. That’s what impresses me about their cinema. I don’t feel bad when a lot of people don’t like my films. Painting is not for everyone and neither is art. Across the world, films are made to entertain, but there is also alternative cinema, which is a reflection of life. That’s the kind of cinema I chose.

Reality Bites

The Philippines’ socio-political climate often becomes an unspoken character in your stories. How do you see cinema’s role in reflecting the country’s realities today?

For me, films are a reflection of life. They are a way for me to contribute not only through my art but also to society through my stories. Somehow, I want to make a difference as an artist because I believe being an artist is a gift and we have to take it seriously.

Have you ever faced any pressure from the government for the political statements in your films?

I don’t take pressure from anyone.