Director Brillante Ma Mendoza is a living national treasure of the Philippine alternative cinema.The first Filipino to win the most coveted Best Director Award for his film “Kinatay” at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009. Dubbed by the world’s film critics as an ultra neo-realist for his films. Brillante’s films depict social realities about the lives of ordinary people in extraordinary situati ons against the backdrop of issues that plague the country.

Director Brillante Ma. Mendoza was born on July 30, 1960 in San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines. He finished Fine Arts at the University of Santo Tomas where he majored in Advertising. His career began as a Production Designer in feature films, television, and theatre. His mastery over production design was featured in acclaimed local films such as Takaw Tukso (Flirting With Temptation, 1986), Private Show (1986), Olongapo (1984), The Great American Dream (1987), and many others. In 2005, Mendoza founded Centerstage Productions (CSP), an independent film production outfit. This film out fit produced feature films that gained several awards in local and international film festivals. As a production designer for feature films, he moved to television commercial productions and became one of the most sought after production designers. From 1990 to 2004, he focused his career as an Art Director for television commercials for national and multi-national advertisers: San Miguel Brewery, Asia Brewery, PLDT, Globe Telecom, Smart Telecommunications, Procter & Gamble Philippines, and Unilever Philippines.

In 2005 Mendoza ventured into feature film not as a production designer but as a director. His first feature film Masahista (The Masseur, 2005) won the Golden Leopard Award at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland. The film also won the Interfaith Award in 2006 in the Brisbane Film Festival