Andrés Bonifacio, the freedom fighter known as the father of the Philippine revolution, was executed by rival revolutionaries in 1897. His wife, Gregoria de Jesus, searched for his body in the mountains for 30 days. It was never found.

A man appears to a female reporter and claims he is the famous kidnapper that has the world astir and promises to turn himself in if she listens to his story. Though she is suspicious of him, she starts to fall more and more into his story.

In the 16th century, young and ambitious Portuguese navigator Fernão de Magalhães rebels against the power of King Manuel I, who doesn't support his dream of discovering the world. He persuades the Spanish Crown to fund his bold expedition to the fabled lands of the East. The voyage is exhausting beyond expectations, with hunger and mutiny pushing the crew to their limits. Upon reaching the islands of the Malayan Archipelago, Magalhães' mind changes. He becomes obsessed with conquest and conversion, which sparks violent uprisings beyond his control.

2001 Filipino film

Hilarion Zabala, a former master sergeant, is tormented by a strange smell. The diagnosis is phantosmia, i.e. olfactory hallucinations, where he perceives smells that do not actually exist. His doctor attributes this to past trauma and recommends that he confront and recall his dark military service period as a solution. Zabala, willing to take on any task, voluntarily visits a military base and is eventually assigned to a remote island penal colony. However, another horrific reality awaits him there.
From religious bloodshed to human rights abuses against women, the various forms of violence created by humans are still structurally and routinely pervasive. How can justice and salvation be achieved in an age of violence? Can violence used to prevent violence ever be justified? Deep anguish is reflected through the contemplative black-and-white imagery. (BOO Kyunghwan)

2023 Filipino film

The Philippines, 1974: as Marcos’ oppressive regime becomes increasingly entrenched after he imposed martial law in 1972, Servando Monzon III, heir to his powerful clan’s hacienda and family business, refuses to capitulate to the dictator’s plans to control the country. In this adaptation of Ricardo Lee’s short story and screenplay Servando Magdamag, Lav Diaz, the unrelenting and incisive prober of Philippine history’s shadowy areas, offers a film of epic proportions. The aim, as unequivocally indicated by the title, is nothing less than to scrutinise Filipino violence and explore its roots from Spanish colonisation to the present day. Feudalism and power struggles are closely examined. Borne aloft by a remarkable cast – John Lloyd Cruz in the main role is a huge television and film star in the Philippines – this “sine novela”, according to the opening credits, mixes up the codes of the telenovela with Lav Diaz’ ostensibly very different filmmaking. The story unfolds of the mutual relationships of a profusion of characters over time, shot in the sumptuous black and white that is now the stuff of most of his movies. The filmmaker himself frames these magnificent shots that stretch out, sensuous experiences of living tableaux attentive to the bodies set in a place as well as to the languages used, to the inner movements and down-time. In this film that’s both a tragic saga set in the past and the tale of an “endless nightmare”, Diaz takes on a dual allegorical dimension – the figures of the philosopher and the blind man – and an informative one, like the revolutionary education meetings that pepper the story. This “tale of violence” is also an epic with very contemporary resonances, as the recent election to the presidency of another Marcos, a devoted son of the previous president, reminds us. (Nicolas Feodoroff)
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In his trailer for the Viennale, THE BOY WHO CHOSE THE EARTH, Lav Diaz tells the story of a boy who has aspirations – he educates himself and forges plans. One day there’s a knock on the door, someone leaves and he is literally left out in the rain. Thunder cracks and lightning flashes, water pelts down and engulfs everything. Incredulously, the boy looks up to the heavens – is this supposed to be his destiny? THE BOY WHO CHOSE THE EARTH is probably the shortest film Lav Diaz has ever made – a grain rich in meaning. (V'18 Trailer: THE BOY WHO CHOSE THE EARTH von Lav Diaz）
The idea of commissioning Lav Diaz to direct a two-minute trailer might sound like a cinephilic jest. But the result of this experiment in contrasts is a dense, evocative short film that transmits layers of narrative and mystery in its brief run time. Aesthetically speaking, THE BOY WHO CHOSE THE EARTH resembles some of Diaz’s early shadowy black-and-white works, albeit marked by a somewhat softer, finer touch. While maintaining a focus on the relations of family, and the importance of place, its tone departs starkly from Diaz’s often wrenching epic-realist sensibilities. It involves a young boy, an anonymous son, who lives seemingly self-sustained in what might be the present and might be the end of the world. He is alone amid an ostensibly functional, if precarious universe. His occupations form a picture of early subjectivity – and a prompt to explore, from the inner self to an ever-obscured life outside. (Rachael A. Rakes)

The Philippines, 1974: as Marcos’ oppressive regime becomes increasingly entrenched after he imposed martial law in 1972, Servando Monzon III, heir to his powerful clan’s hacienda and family business, refuses to capitulate to the dictator’s plans to control the country. In this adaptation of Ricardo Lee’s short story and screenplay Servando Magdamag, Lav Diaz, the unrelenting and incisive prober of Philippine history’s shadowy areas, offers a film of epic proportions. The aim, as unequivocally indicated by the title, is nothing less than to scrutinise Filipino violence and explore its roots from Spanish colonisation to the present day. Feudalism and power struggles are closely examined. Borne aloft by a remarkable cast – John Lloyd Cruz in the main role is a huge television and film star in the Philippines – this “sine novela”, according to the opening credits, mixes up the codes of the telenovela with Lav Diaz’ ostensibly very different filmmaking. The story unfolds of the mutual relationships of a profusion of characters over time, shot in the sumptuous black and white that is now the stuff of most of his movies. The filmmaker himself frames these magnificent shots that stretch out, sensuous experiences of living tableaux attentive to the bodies set in a place as well as to the languages used, to the inner movements and down-time. In this film that’s both a tragic saga set in the past and the tale of an “endless nightmare”, Diaz takes on a dual allegorical dimension – the figures of the philosopher and the blind man – and an informative one, like the revolutionary education meetings that pepper the story. This “tale of violence” is also an epic with very contemporary resonances, as the recent election to the presidency of another Marcos, a devoted son of the previous president, reminds us. (Nicolas Feodoroff)
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Hesus Mariano is caught in a deadly match between his mentor Rebel Leader Miguel Reynante and military Colonel Arnold Simon. Drawing inspiration from his childhood sweetheart Hilda, Hesus decides to change the rules and take control of the game.

The Philippines is visited by an average of twenty to twenty eight strong typhoons and storms every year. It is the most storm-battered country in the world. Last year, Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), considered the strongest storm in history, struck the Philippines, leaving in its path apocalyptic devastation.

1957年，菲律賓雜耍表演大師 Hernando Alamada，在五月花號遊輪上完成了他巡演的最後一站。這位前社會主義幹部知道菲律賓將會再次經歷痛苦的轉變⸺萬人景仰的總統麥格塞塞突然死於空難。他回到貧民窟，既擔憂國家的現狀與未來，又要面臨個人的危機。此時，他決定踏上漫無目的的旅程，在荒誕的劇場中尋找救贖。近年量產的拉夫狄亞茲繼續用藝術來反思菲律賓歷史，借國家的過去理解當下的困局。

Erwin ROMULO, the late Alexis TIOSECO’s best friend, recalls the events of TIOSECO and his girlfriend’s untimely death. DIAZ makes use of one long take to allow ROMULO an uninterrupted narration of the events. The pain of recalling is palpable. ROMULO is transformed into a classic DIAZ protagonist, a man who is continuously burdened by the irrationalities of the society.

以菲律宾为主题的影片，代表菲律宾电影的三位导演Brillante Mendoza，Lavda Diaz和Kidla Lathatimic参与其中。菲律宾由7,641个岛屿组成，分为三个部分：北吕宋岛，南棉兰老岛和中米沙鄢群岛。

Lieutenant Hermes Papauran, one of the best investigators in the Philippines, is at a deep moral crossroads. He is a first-hand witness of the murderous anti-drug campaign conducted by his force, his anxiety and guilt triggering a severe skin disease. As he tries to heal, a dark past haunts him.

主角耶利米的生財架生一頭牛和貨車給偷了。他找警察報案，其間發現一幫少年在密謀綁架一名少女Helena，而當中的密謀主腦就是村裏的富家子。貪污和貧窮、警察和無政府狀態，才是導演要講的故事。如果身為警察的審判者都貪污，正道何在？結果耶利米去教堂找神父，神父叫他找警察。耶利米說警察都找過，可是警察也勸他不要多事。神父叫他祈禱求神幫助，因爲神會審判，公義在祂。耶利米說，可是那個少女將會給殺死，求公義有用嗎？他再次找警察，結果挨了一身毒打。耶利米很絕望，他祈禱同神講數，以絕食四十日徒步四十日交換少女的命，這是他唯一能做的，就是爲了救回少女Helena。

In the year 2050, the Philippines brace for the coming of the fiercest storm ever to hit the country. And as the wind and waters start to rage, poets are being murdered.
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The Day Before The End won the Principal Prize at the 2016 International Short Film Festival Oberhausen. The jury cited it as “a work of political urgency. Made by an artist known for works that unfold over many hours, this short film is both elaborate and succinct.”

An engkanto, or encanto, is an often-malign spirit dwelling in the Filipino countryside, although in Death in the Land of Encantos, some of them have migrated to eastern Europe as exiles. Their human counterpart is the film’s protagonist, Benjamin (“Hamin”) Agusan, a poet who returns from years in Russia to search for the body of his girlfriend in the wake of a catastrophic typhoon and landslides. These 2006 disasters devastated the Bicol region where Diaz’s films have been set since Evolution of a Filipino Family, killing thousands. This film, which inaugurated Diaz’s “trauma trilogy,” includes documentary footage in an attempt to record the suffering of the local inhabitants.
A Filipino poet named Benjamin Agusan (Roeder Camanag) is the hapless native who returns to his hometown Padang to witness the aftermat h of the super typhoon. For the past seven years, Benjamin had been living in an old town called Kaluga in Russia. With his grant and residency, he taught and conducted workshops in a university. The poet published two books of sadness and longing in the process. In Russia, Benjamin was able to shoot video collages, fell in love with a Slavic beauty, buried a son, and almost went mad. He came back to bury his dead-father, mother, sister and a lover. He came back to face Mount Mayon, the raging beauty and muse of his youth. He came home to confront the country that he so loved and hated, the Philippines. He came back to die in the land of his birth. He wanders around the obliterated village meeting old friends and lovers.

A majestic film in which two stories easily fit. One about a filmmaker who is a little like Diaz himself and wrestles with the completion of his film and with greedy film festival programmers. And one about a religious leader. Also a little like Diaz himself?
The films of Lav Diaz often tell serious epic stories, but they are still not entirely free from humour and satire. For instance in this film, Diaz takes the mickey out of festival programmers and also sketches a picture of himself that is not entirely free from self-mockery.
The film has two or three stories (also a film in the film) and one of them focuses on the filmmaker Homer, who very much resembles Lav Diaz himself. The tortured filmmaker wrestles with completing his film. Despite pleas from those around him and from eager programmers, he continues to refuse to regard his film as finished. Alongside the story about a nun in the film on which Homer is working, there’s another story about the religious leader Father Turbico. Turbico leads a sect in the countryside that is primarily made up of young women. When one of the women wants to leave the sect, a dramatic situation ensues.
By telling the stories in parallel, similarities become visible between Homer’s struggle with cinema and Turbico's struggle with faith.