Philippines: DRR advocacy film Taklub successfully premieres in Cannes

The advocacy film, Taklub, has successfully premiered yesterday at the 68th Cannes Film Festival in France as part of the Un Certain Regard selection.

As Director Brillante Mendoza led the Taklub entourage, Senator Loren Legarda said she felt even prouder of this project, which she principally advocated.

The film has received positive comments from social media and good reviews from film critics. Reviews from Toute La Culture and Cinematografo gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and 4.5 out of 5 stars, respectively.

The Hollywood Reporter review by Clarence Tsui notes at how “by shunning straightforward melodramatic exposition of all the varied tragic back stories, Mendoza and screenwriter Honeylyn Joy Alipio allow their characters to slowly and gently reveal their anguish and pain.”

The same review commended the film’s cinematography and production design, but stressed that it is the “overall controlled performances from the cast – ranging from veterans like (Nora) Aunor and (Julio) Diaz, to younger faces like (Aaron) Rivera and (Shine) Santos – which propels the film.”

Meanwhile, Variety review by Maggie Lee stresses at how the film “is more concerned with their emotional devastation than with the physical aftermath. Shot in a no-frills documentary style that echoes its subjects’ deprivation, the film is at once intimate and detached in its dramatic economy, though the finale will leave many viewers saddened yet humbled.”

David Poland, in his article for Movie City News, states “Brillante Mendoza’s Taklub is also, really, a holocaust drama. The holocaust here starts with a specific family, but this becomes a symbol of the massive tragedy of tsunamis in the Philippines. Wonderful, understated performance by Nora Aunor. Slow. Painful. Real.”

Legarda said she is happy with the positive reviews and noted that Debussy Theater was full during the official screening of the film.

“Filipinos should be proud of Taklub because through this film we are able to inspire by showcasing the resilient Filipino spirit and we also impart the important message of building resilience against disasters,” she said, noting that it is the first time an advocacy film was screened in the Un Certain Regardsection of Cannes.

Taklub was produced by Mendoza’s Centerstage Productions and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), in cooperation with the Presidential Communications Operations Office-Philippine Information Agency (PCOO-PIA).

Source: PreventionWeb