Ma' Rosa

In the Philippines, no one trusts the police. Ma’ Rosa, the latest film by internationally acclaimed Filipino director Brillante Mendoza, tells the story of an ordinary family who try to make ends meet by selling small amounts of “ice” (crystal meth). Set up by a customer, the parents are arrested and taken to the police station. Thus begins a harrowing race against the clock, as their children try to find the money to bribe corrupt police into releasing the couple. The drama unfolds in what feels like real time, in a gritty social realist style aided by the incredibly intimate cinematography of Odyssey Flores. Lead actress Jaclyn Jose gives the performance of a lifetime as the detained mother and was awarded the Best Actress award at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. More than six thousand people have been killed in the Philippines since the election of President Rodrigo Duterte, who campaigned on a promise to kill thousands of drug offenders. Though Ma’ Rosa was completed shortly before Duterte was elected, it shows in chilling detail the consequences of how corruption in a country’s institutions can destroy the lives of everyday people.