Internationally acclaimed independent film director Brillante Mendoza is all set to present another masterpiece titled Prey, a film which stars French actress Isabelle Huppert, who portrays the role of a missionary foreigner held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf group in 2001.
Like most of Mendoza’s raw yet well-crafted films, Prey depicts one of the hard realities in the modern Filipino society, which, in this case, is the hostage-taking situation in Mindanao. With this film, Mendoza hopes to shed light on the real situation in Mindanao, particularly, the Abu Sayyaf group.
“What I am really trying to say here is that they (Abu Sayyaf) are not representatives of the Muslim people. When we say ‘Abu Sayyaf,’ notorious first comes to mind. We (wrongly) associate the Muslims with the Abu Sayyaf. When someone gets killed in Mindanao, we (instantly) think that the Abu Sayyaf were behind it. But in fact, it’s not (always the case). There are other sectors (to consider),” the director revealed in Tagalog during a previous interview with the Philippine Entertainment Portal.
For this film, Mendoza further disclosed that he also made an effort to interview some of the victims and some members of the Abu Sayyaf who are now in prison, he talked to some members of the military, the generals, organizations and social groups who have worked with the victims, the psychologists and the psychiatrists who helped the survivors, and those who were freed because of ransom.
Mendoza even went out of his way to go to the Abu Sayyaf camps in Mindanao alone, and let them know that he’s making a movie about them.
“I asked them (Abu Sayyaf), ‘why are you really doing this?’ Then they told me about their cause. But at the same time, they also admitted that they have members who are abusive, that they have members who are terrorists.”
Always a step ahead of his game, Mendoza dared to go beyond what is usually seen in the news and make his audience experience true emotions the way the victims felt it which makes Huppert perfect for the role of Gracia Burnham.
Gracia Burnham was the foreign missionary who survived a tragic experience when her hostage husband was killed amid rescue operations, but also for writing her own ordeal in the book, In the Hands of My Enemies.
Huppert is a notable French actress who started acting since 1971. She was known for having 14 entry films in the Cannes Film Festival and winning the Best Actress Award twice for Viollette Noziere in 1978, and La Pianiste in 2001. She was also the jury president at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival in 2009, the same year Mendoza won the Cannes Best Director Award for Kinatay.
Mendoza told the press in a separate interview that it was Huppert’s admiration for Kinatay that convinced her to accept the role and shoot in the Philippines.
When asked about her experience shooting in the Philippines, Huppert marveled that shooting the film “was very special,” because most of their shoot required a lot of emotions. She also said that she enjoyed working with talented Filipino artists, especially with an “extraordinary director” like Mendoza.
Huppert reportedly went back to Paris after shooting but hopes to come back to the Philippines in time for the film’s premiere.
Prey is the brainchild of Mendoza which turned out to be his grandest production yet thanks to his producer, Didier Costet. The creative staff and crew began shooting January 2011 in different places such as Batangas, Quezon, Rizal, and then to the forest of Subic.
Proud of its actors who are considered efficient both on screen and on stage, the Prey stars Isabelle Huppert, Raymond Bagatsing, Ronnie Lazaro, Sid Lucero, Angel Aquino, Tado, Mon Confiado, Neil Ryan Sese, Kathy Mulville, Rustica Carpio, Allan Paule, Isabel Lopez, Che Ramos, Marinella Lumeran, Bernard Palanca, Perry Dizon, and Sid Lucero, among others.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(OCIE Feb 18-24, 2011 RedCarpet pg. 2)
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