Tokyo PE hails Brillante Mendoza’s works at Masters of Southeast Asian Cinema 2019
Officers and staff of Tokyo PE pose for a photograph with film director Brillante Ma Mendoza following the screening of Alpha: The Right to Kill.
8 July 2019, Tokyo. The Philippine Embassy in Tokyo congratulated acclaimed director Brillante Ma Mendoza for the successful screening of his films at Asia Center’s Masters of Southeast Asian Cinema 2019.
Mendoza’s Shiniuma (Dead Horse) and Alpha: The Right to Kill were well-received by local film enthusiasts at the film exchange initiative showcasing the works of five (5) Southeast Asian master directors. The films of Singapore’s Eric Khoo, Indonesia’s Garin Nugroh, Thailand’s Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit and Cambodia’s Rithy Panh were screened alongside Mendoza’s Shiniuma and Alpha.
Shiniuma follows the story of an overstaying overseas Filipino worker in Hokkaido who returns home to his village in the Philippines following his deportation from Japan. Alpha, on the other hand, is a tale of police corruption and brutality set against the government’s war on drugs.
Speaking before members of the press after the screening of Alpha, Mendoza revealed that consistent with his signature docudrama style, he employed professional and non-professional actors in his movies and shot in locations where people go about their daily business. “Most of the people playing police officers in Alpha are real policemen and this has helped to make their actions and dialogue authentic. I always aim to bring reality and truthfulness to the screen,” he continued.
Masters of Southeast Asian Cinema 2019 forms part of Asia Center’s Resonance 2019, which is a cultural exchange program between Japan and Southeast Asian countries. The Asia Center is a special unit under Japan Foundation established in 2014 to carry out cultural programs for mutual exchange in education, culture and the arts.
