On August 8, Consul Cunanan met with multi-award winning film director Brillante Mendoza at the latter’s studio in Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila.

Consul Cunanan conveyed to Mr. Medoza the official invitation from the organizers of the Tbilisi International Film Festival for the Philippine director to participate in this year’s celebration, to be held in the Georgian capital on December 1 – 7.  Mr. Mendoza expressed keen interest in the proposal and is currently reviewing his commitments for the second half 2014, to see if he attend the film festival. He and Consul Cunanan are also reviewing his collection of films in order to identify the most suitable ones for the event.

If he is able to make the trip to Georgia, Mr. Mendoza will be the first Philippine film maker not just to participate in the Tbilisi International Film Festival, but to officially screen his works in the Caucasus region.

A pillar of Philippine independent cinema, Mr. Mendoza, has directed sixteen films since 2005. He won the award for Best Directorfor his film Kinatay at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival.^[3] His 2009 film Lola won the award for Best Film at the 6th Dubai International Film Festival.^[4] His 2012 film Captive was shown in competition at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2012. His 2012 film Thy Womb competed for the Golden Lion at the 69th Venice International Film Festival.