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"Ma' Rosa," which premiered this week at the Cannes Film
Festival, tells the story of Rosa Reyes (Jaclyn Jose), a woman
who owns a convenience store in a poor neighborhood of
Philippines' capital Manila, making ends meet with her husband
Nestor (Julio Diaz) by selling drugs.
Both are detained at a police station after their home is
raided, leaving their three children to find the money needed to
pay off corrupt police officers in order to free their parents.
"This situation is really happening back in the Philippines and
it's quite alarming because it comes to a way of life," Mendoza
told Reuters on Thursday.
"The small-time drug selling and all that is happening and it's
quite alarming and something needs to be done. That's why I
decided to make a story out of this situation."
Mendoza believes the story has wider appeal as the Philippines
is not the only country plagued by corruption.
"It's a painful truth," the filmmaker said. "There is a lot of
bigger corruption that is happening all over the world maybe on
a different scale."
"Ma' Rosa" is among 21 films competing for the festival's
coveted top Palme d'Or prize, which will be awarded on Sunday.
Mendoza, 55, who previously won the best director award at
Cannes in 2009 for "Kinatay," said that showcasing a film in the
festival's main film competition would help get the world to
think about the topics of the film.
"This is where the whole world, you know, watch films from
different walks of life and from different parts of the world,"
he said.
(Reporting by Reuters Television in Cannes, France; Writing by
Piya Sinha-Roy in Los Angeles; Editing by James Dalgleish)
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