Jaclyn Jose became the first Filipino to win the Best Actress award from the 69th Cannes Film Festival Sunday for her mesmerizing performance as a slum matriarch who falls prey to police  corruption.

The movie, “Ma’Rosa” was directed by Brillante Mendoza, who in 2009 became the first Filipino to win best director at the festival for “Kinatay.”

Nominated along with Jose were Hollywood stars Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart and Elle Fanning, as well as French actresses Isabelle Hupert and Marion Cotillard.

“Ma’Rosa” tells the story of Rosa Reyes, a woman who owns a convenience store in a poor neighborhood in Manila who make ends meet by selling illegal drugs on the side along with her husband. When both were caught by the police, their children try to help pay for their freedom by bribing corrupt law enforcers.

The movie was nominated for the Palme d’Or, the highest prize at the Cannes film fest, but it bowed to “I, Daniel Blake” directed by British director Ken Loach.

Mendoza told a news conference in Cannes prior to the award ceremony that the movie was based on a true story and his personal experience with a main character of the film four years ago.

The director, who has become known for tackling dark social issues in his films, said, “It happened, that’s why it has to be told.”

“As an artist, as a filmmaker, you have to share it with the rest of the world for them to realize and also for them to think about it, that such situation should not happen,” he added.

WALK THE RED CARPET

Jose said she had to forget everything she learned in her 30 years in show business for her role as a sweetshop owner and small-time drug dealer in “Ma’ Rosa.”

“The biggest challenge for me was not to act. Especially since I am coming from television shows where I play loud and campy characters,” she told reporters.

“I am so surprised. I just went to have the red carpet walk with my daughter, my real-life daughter and my daughter in the movie also,” Jose said as she accepted the award Sunday, referring to her daughter actress Andi Eigenmann. “To Cannes, thank you so much, thank you to the jury, thank you that you liked our film.”

The actress, who had appeared in previous films by Mendoza, said she was sharing the award with her director, her daughter and the cast of the film, as well as all Filipinos.

VERSATILE

The 52-year-old said she had to “tone everything down to zero” – for the stark, realistic portrait of a woman fighting to do the best for her family in Mendoza’s gritty film.

It is a dramatic change from her regular job, playing a spoilt, rich woman in the popular TV soap opera, “The Millionaire’s Wife.”

Variety magazine praised Jose for the “naturalistic grace” of her film performance, playing the matriarch of a family struggling to survive amid squalor.

The daughter of a Filipina mother and a largely absent American serviceman father, Jose first became famous in showbiz circles for her ethereal beauty.

But she has proved to be a versatile and hard-working actress, starring in dramas, comedies, horror stories, romances as well as television soap operas.

She has won numerous acting awards and worked with most prestigious filmmakers.

But it is her relationship with “Ma ‘Rosa” director Mendoza – a friend for over three decades – which has brought her into the international limelight.

She appeared in Mendoza’s first movie “The Masseur” 11 years ago and also his drama “Serbis”, which competed in Cannes in 2008.

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by Jojo P. Panaligan

If you have any stories or news that you would like to share with the global online community, please feel free to share it with us by contacting us directly at [email protected]