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30 Jan – 9 Feb 2025

Lav Diaz

Lav DIAZ (1958, Philippines) has been labelled “the ideological father of the New Philippine Cinema” by the Venice Film Festival. His breakthrough came with the five-hour feature Batang West Side (2002), which won prizes at the film festivals of Brussels and Singapore. Since his 630-minute-long Evolution of a Filipino Family (2004), many of Diaz’s films have been shown at IFFR. From What Is Before (2014) won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival, and The Woman Who Left (2016) won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Diaz received the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

Filmography

(selection) Serafin Geronimo, Kriminal ng Barrio Concepcion/Criminal of Barrio Concepcion (1998), Burger Boys (1999), Hubad sa llalim ng Buwan/Naked Under the Moon (1999), Batang West Side/West Side Kid (2002), Hesus Rebolusyonaryo/Jesus, Revolutionary (2002), Ebolusyon ng Isang Pamilyang Pilipino/Evolution of a Filipino Family (2004), Heremias (Unang aklat: Ang Alamat ng Prinsesang Bayawak)/Heremias (Book One: The Legend of the Lizard Princess) (2006), Kagadanan sa Banwaan ning mga Engkanto/Death in the Land of Encantos (2007), Melancholia (2008), Babae ng Hangin/Woman of the Wind (2011), Siglo ng Pagluluwal/Century of Birthing (2011), Mula sa Kung Ano ang Noon/From What Is Before (2014), Mga Anak ng Unos/Storm Children – Book One (2014, doc), Hele sa hiwagang hapis/A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery (2016), Ang babaeng humayo/The Woman Who Left (2016), Ang panahon ng Halimaw/Season of the Devil (2018), Ang Hupa/The Halt (2019), Lahi, Hayop/Genus Pan (2020), Historya ni Ha/History of Ha (2021), Isang Salaysay ng Karahasang Pilipino/A Tale of Filipino Violence (2022), Kapag Wala Nang Mga Alon/When the Waves Are Gone (2022)

More info: Wikipedia, Lav Diaz

Lav Diaz at IFFR

  • When the Waves Are Gone

    A contrite policeman must reckon with his political past in a stylised, expansive film noir.

    • Harbour

  • Prologue to the Great Desaparecido

    Great filmmaker prepares for a historical masterpiece set in an inhospitable, black-and-white jungle. A taster.

    • Previously On

  • Heremias (Book One: The Legend of the Lizard Princess)

    Majestic masterpiece by the Filipino Lav Diaz who takes his time to tell a story with great emotion. In meditative black & white images, the fateful l

    • Maestros: Kings & Aces

  • Oldeastside

    Filmmaker friend demolishes the masterpiece Batang West Side by Lav Diaz. Diaz looked at it and approved.

    • Short: As Long As It Takes

  • When the Rain Ended

    The muddy scene outside a shop on a tropical rain day.

    • Short: As Long As It Takes

  • Balikbayan Box

    A kid in the Filipino countryside. Everything is smaller and poorer than Cinema Paradiso, but the VHS cinema also appeals to the imagination. Innocenc

    • Cinema of the Future: Sturm und Drang

  • Todo todo teros

    Basically an artist is also a terrorist, the protagonist thinks in an unguarded moment. And if he is a terrorist after all, then he might just as well

    • Cinema of the Future: Sturm und Drang

  • Jesus the Revolutionary

    A military junta has taken power on the Philippines. Their takeover is fought by Moslem separatists, communists and rival military. In the middle of t

    • Cinema Regained: Noel Vera

  • Heremias (Book One: The Legend of the Lizard Princess)

    Majestic masterpiece by the Filipino Lav Diaz who takes his time to tell a story with great emotion. In meditative black & white images, the fateful l

    • Time & Tide

  • Three Days of Darkness

    It made the censors in the Philippines stutter. The filmmaker, in his vision of the Apocalypse as experienced by three women locked in a ghostly house

    • Signals: Hungry Ghosts