( CNN ) -- Feted by Sean Penn and applauded by Quentin Tarantino at Cannes , Filipino filmmaker Brilliante Mendoza appears to finally live up to his name . Facing the press in Cannes , Brillante Mendoza went on to pick up the best director prize . Despite only directing for four years , Mendoza won the award for best director at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year for `` Kinatay '' , beating off competition from filmmaking royalty including Tarantino himself . After picking up the award , Tarantino wrote to Mendoza congratulating him on his award and saying his film was `` bold , daring and ... the whole point of making movies in the first place . '' Making movies is something that the 49-year-old from San Fernando in the Philippines is relatively new to . He spent 20 years as a production designer before directing his first film in 2005 , but since then he has n't looked back and in just over four years has made another seven films . His style of social realism has attracted as much critical acclaim as it has baffled and alienated audiences . But if an artist 's anathema is indifference , Mendoza has more than succeeded in avoiding that curse . Featuring explicit sex , his films have been faced with heavy censorship in his native Philippines , and while Penn and the other judges at Cannes loved his film `` Serbis , '' it proved to be one of the most divisive ; `` Variety '' magazine called it exploitative and veteran film critic Robert Ebert said it was the worst film at the festival . `` I believe that my films will find their audience , probably not now but maybe in the future ... I 'm doing my job , by presenting some stories that normally a mainstream director or mainstream filmmaker wo n't tackle , wo n't show , '' he told CNN . `` Serbis '' was only the third ever film from the Philippines to be shown in Cannes , and while elevating Mendoza to a new level of attention , the man himself hopes it will give the whole country a higher profile . `` Because now they will look at Filipino films in a different way , unlike before they only see ... films from the Philippines like melodrama , about prostitution , about poverty , '' he said . Citing European neo-realist filmmakers like Francois Truffaut as inspirational figures , Mendoza has crafted his own style of Filipino realism on the screen . He shoots without additional lighting and often only gives actors an outline of the scene they will be filming , letting them improvise around their characters . `` I do n't want to limit them , I just want to give them the freedom . I do n't even show my actors the script . I mean I just tell them you know the lines they 're going to say in that day . So they do n't know exactly what will happen , '' he told CNN . Using raw filming techniques , Mendoza hopes to expose the naked truth of life in the Philippines , but he 's also aware that when directing , he reveals much about himself . `` As a filmmaker you ca n't help giving something about yourself in your film . A friend of mine told me 'You should take it easy in exposing yourself because you expose yourself too much in your film . ' `` And I said , ' I ca n't help it . ' I mean , I want to be honest with my films , that 's why I 'm showing how I feel , my emotions , what I 'm going through . So that 's why I would say , you ca n't help to have a huge responsibility as a filmmaker , '' he said .
Mendoza won the Best Director award at this year 's Cannes film festival . Filipino director inspired by Quentin Blake for his film ` ` Serbis '' Mendoza has only been directing for four years ; films have been controversial .