With Yibada News editor Conviron Altatis, 2009 Cannes Film Festival Best Director Brillante Mendoza discusses 'Ma' Rosa,' which made Jaclyn Jose the first Southeast Asian Cannes Film Festival Best Actress. (Photo : Yibada/Conviron Altatis)
Directed by Brillante Mendoza, "Ma' Rosa" is the official entry of the Philippines to the 89th Academy Awards, which will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on Feb. 26, 2017. The film's title role is played by Jaclyn Jose, who won Best Actress at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
So far, there are 41 films officially submitted to the Academy Awards 2017 for the Best Foreign Language Film category including "Ma' Rosa." Here is the list:
1. Farsi-Dari drama film "Parting" by Navid Mahmoudi from Afghanistan
2. French-Arabic drama film "The Well" by Lotfi Bouchouchi from Algeria
3. Armenian-Russian drama film "Earthquake" by Sarik Andreasyan from Armenia
4. Nauvhal romantic drama film "Tanna" by Martin Butler and Bentley Dean from Australia
5. German drama film "Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe" by Maria Schrader from Austria
6. Dutch drama film "The Ardennes" by Robin Pront from Belgium
7. Bosnian-French drama film "Death in Saravejo" by Danis Tanovic from Bosnia and Herzegovina
8. Portuguese drama film "Little Secret" by David Schurmann from Brazil
9. Bulgarian comedy-drama film "Losers" by Ivaylo Hristov from Bulgaria
10. Spanish drama film "Neruda" by Pablo Larrain from Chile
11. Spanish drama film "Alias Maria" by Jose Luis Rugeles Gracia from Colombia
12. Croatian drama film "On the Other Side" by Zrinko Ogresta from Croatia
13. Spanish drama film "The Companion" by Pavel Giroud from Cuba
14. Spanish drama film "Flor de Azucar" by Fernando Baez Mella from Dominican Republic
15. Arabic drama film "Clash" by Mohamed Diab from Egypt
16. Finnish drama film "The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki" by Juho Kuosmanen from Finland
17. Georgian drama film "House of Others" by Rusudan Glurjidze from Georgia
18. German, English and Romanian comedy-drama ffilm "Toni Erdmann" by Maren Ade from Germany
19. Hungarian comedy film "Kills on Wheels" by Attila Till from Hungary
20. Kurdish drama film "El clasico" by Halkawt Mustafa from Iraq
21. Japanese drama film "Haha to Kuraseba" by Yoji Yamada from Japan
22. Lebanese, Arabic, French and English comedy film "Very Big Shot" by Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya from Lebanon
23. Lithuanian, Russian and Estonian drama film "Seneca's Day" by Kristijonas Vildziunas from Lithuania
24. French documentary film "Voices from Chernobyl" by Pol Cruchten from Luxembourg
25. Arabic drama film "A Mile in My Shoes" by Said Khallaf from Morocco
26. Nepali drama film "The Black Hen" by Min Bahadur Bham from Nepal
27. Dutch drama film "Tonio" by Paula van der Oest from the Netherlands
28. Dari documentary film "A Flickering Truth" by Pietra Brettkelly from New Zealand
29. Norwegian, Danish and German docudrama film "The King's Choice" by Eric Poppe from Norway
30. Filipino drama film "Ma' Rosa" by Brillante Mendoza from the Philippines
31. Portuguese drama film "Letters from War" by Ivo M. Ferreira from Portugal
32. Romanian drama film "Sierranevada" by Mimi Branescu from Romania
33. Arabic comedy-drama film "Barakah Meets Barakah" by Mahmoud Sabbagh from Saudi Arabia
34. Serbian drama film "Train Driver's Diary" by Milos Radovic from Serbia
35. Korean action thriller film "The Age of Shadows" by Kim Jee-woon from South Korea
36. Spanish drama film "Julieta" by Pedro Almodovar from Spain
37. Swedish drama film "A Man Called Ove" by Hannes Holm from Sweden
38. French stop motion animated film "My Life as a Courgette" by Claude Barras from Switzerland
39. Arabic drama film "The Flower of Aleppo" by Ridha Behi from Tunisia
40. Ukrainian documentary film "Ukrainian Sheriffs" by Roman Bondarchuk from Ukraine
41. Spanish drama film "From Afar" by Lorenzo Vigas from Venezuela
Written by Troy Espiritu, "Ma' Rosa" also stars Baron Geisler, Mon Confiado, Julio Diaz, Jomari Angeles, Felix Roco, Andi Eigenmann, Vince Rillon, Kristofer King, Mercedes Cabral, Aaron Rivera and Maria Isabel Lopez, among others. Here is the trailer of the film:
