Nora Aunor, Brillante Medoza get 5-minute standing ovation at Venice filmfest

MANILA, Philippines—The main characters of Brillante Mendoza’s “Sinapupunan” (“Thy Womb”), led by multi-awarded actress Nora Aunor, received a five-minute standing ovation at the 69th Venice International Film Festival on Thursday.

“Thy Womb”, one of the 18 movies vying for the prestigious Golden Lion award at the world’s oldest film festival in Venice, is set on the islands of Tawi-Tawi in Mindanao.

Aunor and Mendoza were joined at the red-carpet premiere in the north-eastern Italian city Thursday by Lovi Poe and Mercedes Cabral.

Brillante Mendoza and Nora Aunor. FILE PHOTO

People at the movie’s world premiere  sprang to their feet in a five-minute ovation that lasted until the entire delegation left the cinema, “Thy Womb” producer Larry Castillo told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Aunor is competing for best actress with another Mendoza star, Isabelle Huppert, whose entry is Marco Bellocchio’s “Bella Addormentata.” Huppert is the star of Mendoza’s Berlin entry this year—“Captive,” currently showing in local theaters.

Also read: Brillante Mendoza shows different side of Mindanao

“Thy Womb” tells the story of a wife who cannot conceive and sets out with her husband to find a second wife who can give him a child.

The intensity of the plot of the beautifully-shot movie comes from the shame of infertility and the relationship between the two women in a tradition-bound fishing community. With Agence France-Presse in Venice