Philippine film mirrors society from inside a movie house

May 12, 2008, 14:45 GMT

Manila - Filipino director Brillante 'Dante' Mendoza almost gave up the idea of competing in this year's Cannes Film Festival after encountering financial troubles in producing his latest film.

Pressed for time and low on budget, he was only able to give the festival's screening committee a rough edit of his 90-minute film Serbis (Service) for evaluation.

'What I sent them was a very rough edit, just with subtitles,' the 47-year-old independent film director said. 'It was not yet colour- corrected. There was no sound, no music, nothing.'

Two weeks before the film is scheduled to be shown for competition in the world's most prestigious festival, Mendoza is still putting the final touches to the movie.

Serbis is the first Philippine film to compete at Cannes in 24 years. It tackles a day in the life of a family living in a run-down movie house that shows pornographic films and whose regular customers are 'service boys' engaged in prostitution.

The family turns a blind eye to the side business going on in the theatre as they try to survive on its meager earnings and struggle with their own problems.

Mendoza said that while the film is 'very, very simple,' it offers a unique story that is loosely based on a Filipino family that has turned an old theatre in Angeles City in the northern province of Pampanga into their home.

'We found this story after two years of research,' he told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in an interview at his production house, where he and his staff were preparing for their trip to Cannes.

'It was inspiring and it's so unique to see this family living inside the theatre where they get their livelihood,' he said.

'The story is simple but the film is multilayered because we want to talk about a lot of things, such as morality, poverty, education and institutions,' he added. 'The family is a representation of each and every one of us.'

Mendoza said his films are often 'close to reality, from the story to the treatment.'

Even his actors are trained to 'become the character' and not perform so their scenes genuinely reflect life. He goes as far as hiring non-actors for his movies.

'In all my films, the distinguishing mark is the truthfulness and honesty,' he said. 'In terms of style, it may vary because I will create a style, a certain look, depending on what the story calls for.'

He brushed aside concerns that such a technique might make the film boring, saying, 'I don't think of that. What I always think about is whether I'm doing it right. Am I being truthful? Am I being honest with this shot, with this scene, with this sequence?'

Mendoza added that like all of his six other films, Serbis does not preach about what is right and wrong.

'In my films, I never preach,' he said. 'My characters will make choices in the movie, but that doesn't necessarily mean that their choices are right or good. It depends on how you view it. It depends on how you see it as a person.'

'After seeing my movie, I want my audience to be able to reflect on their own lives,' he added.

Mendoza said he feels honoured that Serbis is among the 22 films competing for the top prize at Cannes, the Palme d'Or, but noted that such awards are 'bonuses' to his work.

'What is priceless in festivals like this is when people approach you after the showing and they tell you, 'I believe you - I believe in what you say,'' he said.

'I can't explain the kind of feeling when people talk to me about my film. That is my reward.'