Brillante Ma Mendoza

Directing

Brillante Ma Mendoza

Born

1960-07-30 (66)

Place of birth

San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines

Known for

Directing

Credits

48 titles

Brillante Mendoza (born July 30, 1960), also known as Dante Mendoza, is a Filipino independent filmmaker. He is known as one of the key members associated with the Philippine New Wave. Mendoza is the first Filipino filmmaker to receive the Best Director award for his film Kinatay at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. Other international accolades include Best Film for his 2009 film Lola at the 6th Dubai International Film Festival and Achievement in Directing at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards for his 2012 film Thy Womb, which also competed for the Golden Lion at the 69th Venice International Film Festival. Mendoza's 2012 film Captive was shown in competition at the 62nd Berlin International Fi…

Known for

Film credits

2010s · 8 titles

French Cinema Mon Amour poster
5.2

French Cinema Mon Amour is an ensemble film in which each contributor brings their own voice, their own particular approach, their culture, and their language to produce a portrait of French cinema.

French Cinema Mon Amour

2015

Habambuhay: Remembering Philippine Cinema poster
NR

A one-of-a-kind legacy project produced by TBA Studios, Habambuhay is a homage to the centennial anniversary of Philippine cinema–an insightfully entertaining documentary series, revisiting the personal experiences of those who work in front of or behind the cameras, those who have shaped the film industry of the Philippines for the longest time.

Habambuhay: Remembering Philippine Cinema

2019

Philippine New Wave: This Is Not a Film Movement poster
4.8

Documentary profiling the directors involved in the loose Philippine New Wave filmmaking movement.

Philippine New Wave: This Is Not a Film Movement

2010

No artwork available
NR

Documentary about the history of Philippine cinema.

Return to Manila: Filipino Cinema

2010

Uno sguardo alla Terra poster
NR

Sardinia 2017. The starting point for the film is one of the most loved lands in the Mediterranean, using it to enter into the world of cinema. Ten international masters of cinema explain Fiorenzo Serra's images, one of the greatest post-war Italian documentary makers. His masterpiece, "The last punch of Earth", will be analyzed and debated, a film which examined Italian change and European reflection.

Uno sguardo alla Terra

2018

Southeast Asian Cinema – When the Rooster Crows poster
5.0

Southeast Asia Cinema - When the rooster crows is a voice of diversity reaching for change. Brillante Mendoza, Eric Khoo, Garin Nugroho, Pen Ek Ratanaruang give voice to a region rich with traditions, ethnic groups, languages, politics, and religions. It is cinema, at its purest form, fighting for freedom of expression, documenting real lives of ordinary people, giving voice to the underdogs and the outcasts. The amalgamation of these aspects gives birth to an ultra-neo-realistic cinema language currently unique to films from this region.

Southeast Asian Cinema – When the Rooster Crows

2014

No artwork available
5.5

A group of friends, sharing a passion for cinema, assemble in Corregidor, a small island in Manila Bay that has preserved relics from the Pacific War as its foremost attractions. There, they explore the island and retire in a rustic mansion used once to make silent films. Outside the city, the woods and sea become a meeting place for more movie personalities and it all becomes a celebration of what was left behind.

The Great Cinema Party

2012

No artwork available
NR

The biggest names in the country's film industry speak up about the evolution of Philippine films and how it has transformed today's industry.

Sine, Laging Kasama

2014

Behind the camera

Virgin Forest poster
5.1

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.

Virgin Forest

2022

Virgin Forest poster
5.1

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.

Virgin Forest

2022

Virgin Forest poster
5.1

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.

Virgin Forest

2022

Venice 70: Future Reloaded poster
5.0

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.

Venice 70: Future Reloaded

2013

Basang Basa poster
7.0

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.

Basang Basa

2025

60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero poster
4.2

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.

60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero

2011

Captive poster
5.9

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

Captive

2012

Captive poster
5.9

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

Captive

2012

Grandmother poster
7.2

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.

Grandmother

2009

Sabel Is Still Young poster
4.0

The married life of Sabel and Brian was cut short when three men rape her and kill Brian in their honeymoon. Surviving from the crime, she vows to let the culprits experience hell.

Sabel Is Still Young

2022

Nympho poster
7.5

A woman seeking excitement meets a man who brings light and meaning to her world.

Nympho

2025

Serbis poster
5.9

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

Serbis

2008

Until She Remembers poster
NR

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.

Until She Remembers

2026

Until She Remembers poster
NR

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.

Until She Remembers

2026

Until She Remembers poster
NR

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.

Until She Remembers

2026

Gensan Punch poster
5.5

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.

Gensan Punch

2022

The Masseur poster
5.9

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.

The Masseur

2005

Palitan poster
5.3

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

Palitan

2021

Asian Three-Fold Mirror 2016: Reflections poster
NR

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.

Asian Three-Fold Mirror 2016: Reflections

2016

Alpha: The Right to Kill poster
5.3

Set against the backdrop of the Philippines Government’s crackdown on illegal drugs, a SWAT-led police force launches an operation to arrest Abel, one of the biggest druglords in Manilla. Police Officer Espino and Elijah, a small-time pusher turned informant, provide the intelligence for the operation which quickly escalates into a violent and heavely-armed confrontation in the slums between the SWAT and Abel’s gang. Before the investigators arrive at the crime scene, Espino and Elijah walk off with Abel’s backpack full of money and methamphetamine.

Alpha: The Right to Kill

2019

Sisid poster
5.0

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.

Sisid

2022

Pantasya poster
4.2

A digital feature has five episodes that all deal with wild gay fantasies involving men in uniform. It starts with "Biyahe," about a jilted taxi driver and his jealous passenger who find comfort in each other's lovesick arms. The second episode is "Linya," about a lonely homeowner whose phone conks out. Two handsome repairmen arrive and they end up engaging in a dizzying threesome. Next is "Laro," about four basketball players who are taking a shower in the locker room after an intense game, and a shy guy who takes a peek at them and later joins in the fun. "Bilis" is about a hunky delivery boy in a hurry who delivers pizza to a bored yuppie who is working overtime in his office. They get instantly attracted upon seeing each other. The last episode is "Bantay," about a horny security guard in the graveyard shift. He sees two lovers fighting. Rhyme dumps Jon and Jon finds solace in the arms of the easy going guard.

Pantasya

2007

Hosto poster
3.6

Patrick gets a visa to Japan in order to provide for his family. But when he needs to earn more, he is introduced to becoming a hosto.

Hosto

2023

Butchered poster
6.2

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.

Butchered

2009

Alapaap poster
3.5

A group of friends go to a secluded town to do a short film project but when they take an addictive substance that promised to bring them to cloud nine, they get to experience hell instead.

Alapaap

2022

Ma' Rosa poster
6.5

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.

Ma' Rosa

2016

Slingshot poster
5.4

A tribute to the real potential of digital cinema, Slingshot is a slum epic on steroids. It weaves stories left and right into a shocking tableau about life for the lowest of the low in the Philippines poorest and most crime-ridden districts. National elections are coming up so in the usual attempt to appear “tough-on-crime”, The Big Boys have been sent into crack down on the the local squatters, thieves and miscreants who litter the film like broken bottle. And since no sweep is ever a clean sweep, the cops brutal shock-force tactics quickly ripple outwards with jagged repurcussions.

Slingshot

2008

Possession poster
5.0

The film follows two competing television news teams as they chase a variety of leads, gradually zeroing in on an impending and possibly apocalyptic storm, and a middle-aged teacher who may or may not be possessed by a demon. Writer and actress Raquel Villavicencio plays the ruthless head of the top-rated network, coming off as a Tagalog variation on Faye Dunaway's fabled character in Network. Her team has eschewed covering politics in favour of triedand- true tabloid fodder: demonic possession.

Possession

2013

Art Through Our Eyes poster
NR

As an omnibus of short films, Art Through Our Eyes is inspired by the art collection found at the National Gallery Singapore. Each of the five directors – Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Brillante Mendoza, Eric Khoo, Ho Yuhang and Joko Anwar – handpicked a masterpiece from the 19th and 20th century as inspiration for their short films.

Art Through Our Eyes

2016

Broken poster
NR

The film follows the story a man who travels to Saga to expand his pottery business in the Philippines, then falls in love with a Japanese woman who is the heiress of a flourishing pottery factory.

Broken

2020

Quattro Hong Kong 2 poster
NR

Four short tales set in contemporary Hong Kong.

Quattro Hong Kong 2

2011

Mindanao poster
7.0

Saima, is the mother of a cancer-stricken kid and the wife of a medic deployed in a conflict of aggression in southern Philippines.

Mindanao

2019

Mindanao poster
7.0

Saima, is the mother of a cancer-stricken kid and the wife of a medic deployed in a conflict of aggression in southern Philippines.

Mindanao

2019

Red poster
3.5

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

Red

2024

Thy Womb poster
6.1

A Bajau midwife copes with the irony of her own infertility amid the deprivations of her gypsy community in Tawi-Tawi. A saga of island life stuck between the devil of passion and the deep blue sea of tradition.

Thy Womb

2012

Feast poster
NR

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.

Feast

2023

Summer Heat poster
4.1

Mang Rudy, the widowed woodcarver, wields an iron hand over his three daughters: the fun-loving but rebellious Grace, the youngest, who goes through the throes of adjusting to married life; the feisty and headstrong Lourdes, the middle daughter, who succumbs to an extra-marital affair; and the subservient and discriminated on eldest, Jess, a lesbian who brings home her girlfriend to take care of the father after he succumbs to a heart attack.

Summer Heat

2006

Summer Heat poster
4.1

Mang Rudy, the widowed woodcarver, wields an iron hand over his three daughters: the fun-loving but rebellious Grace, the youngest, who goes through the throes of adjusting to married life; the feisty and headstrong Lourdes, the middle daughter, who succumbs to an extra-marital affair; and the subservient and discriminated on eldest, Jess, a lesbian who brings home her girlfriend to take care of the father after he succumbs to a heart attack.

Summer Heat

2006

Chameleon poster
NR

In early 2000's in Sapporo, Japan. Filipino transgender dancer Marie becomes entangled with the dangerous underbelly of the criminal world after an immigration raid pulls her into the orbit of the deadly Yakuza.

Chameleon

—

Payback poster
NR

Chased by police, bike thief Isaac asks his boss for help but gets the cold shoulder. He then plans vengeance against the boss... Payback depicts a man caught in a slum's crime ring.

Payback

2021