Lav Diaz

  • Lav Diaz – Siglo ng pagluluwal AKA Century of Birthing (2011)

    2011-2020ArthouseExperimentalLav DiazPhilippines

    Quote

    One of the most adventurous filmmakers to emerge from the Philippines in decades, Lav Diaz is, in many ways, the spiritual father of what some have called the Filipino New Wave, a group of filmmakers who have adopted digital technology to create an intimate and raw style. At the same time, he stands separate from them, often working on an epic scale and addressing historical shifts in Philippine society. (See his epochal Ebulysion: Evolution of a Filipino Family.)Read More »

  • Lav Diaz – Ang panahon ng halimaw AKA Season of the Devil (2018)

    2011-2020ArthouseDramaLav DiazPhilippines

    Synopsis
    Philippines, late 1970s. A military-controlled militia is oppressing a remote village, spreading terror both physical and psychological. The fearless young doctor Lorena who opened a clinic for the poor disappears without a trace. Her husband, activist poet Hugo Haniway, attempts to find her.Read More »

  • Lav Diaz – Burger Boys (1999)

    1991-2000ActionComedyLav DiazPhilippines

    Description:
    “There’s not much written about this film online, there are interviews in which Lav actually mentions this film, but that’s it, perhaps, no one has taken actual interest on this. I have written a paper about this for a film theory class, but I’m afraid its something that I can’t have posted online, haha, reading back, its kind of shitty.Read More »

  • Lav Diaz – Heremias aka Heremias, Book One (2006)

    2001-2010ArthouseDramaLav DiazPhilippines

    Review:
    Ox-driven carts full of native crafts line up at a concrete road. We painfully await each and every one of the caravans to finish their diagonal descent and disappear from Lav Diaz’s immobile frame. Ten minutes has passed by, then another fifteen of the same scene of nomadic crafts merchants travelling from one end of the screen to another. The amount of time forces you to observe the surroundings of the traveling group: You delight at the clouds who also move slowly from right to left, the wild grass swaying in relaxed abandon, the majestic view from atop the hill. Before you know it, you share with these crafts merchants the pristine value of time: since you have so much of it. At night, you listen to their songs over a bonfire, their tales of girlfriends throwing away their vows of love to leave with a Japanese man, their worries that their little ones might catch a fever. Diaz pleads you to take a few hours to immerse yourself with their lifestyle; it’s not exactly a harsh request as Diaz rewards you with beautiful scenery — the still scenes may be likened to black and white post cards of rural life in the Philippines.Read More »

  • Lav Diaz – Kagadanan sa banwaan ning mga engkanto AKA Death in the Land of Encantos (2007)

    Arthouse2001-2010ExperimentalLav DiazPhilippines

    A Filipino poet named Benjamin Agusan (Roeder Camanag) is the hapless native who returns to his hometown Padang to witness the aftermath 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.Read More »

  • Lav Diaz – Melancholia (2008)

    2001-2010ArthouseDramaLav DiazPhilippines

    Melancholia (Lav Diaz, 2008)

    Lav Diaz’s Melancholia is an eight-hour meditation of sorts on the maddening persistence of sadness in this world, can logically be divided into three parts and an epilogue. The first part details the experiences in Sagada of Julian (Perry Dizon), Alberta (Angeli Bayani) and Rina (Malaya Cruz) as they refashion themselves into different drastic identities as part of the radical process that Julian created in order for them to cope with the losses of their loved ones. The second part is set in Manila, with Julian and Alberta living their real lives and addressing the scenarios and situations that accompany their melancholic predicament. Read More »

  • Lav Diaz – Batang West Side AKA West Side Avenue (2001)

    2001-2010ArthouseCrimeLav DiazPhilippines

    A Filipino teenager (Yul Servo) is shot to death on the sidewalk of New Jersey, USA. An investigation starts into his death. His family members and friends are interviewed. Along the way, we find out not only more about him but about the community of Filipinos in America in general, including the destructive effect of the drug “shabu” on its youth. The detective who handles the case (Joel Torre) also has his own personal demons to settle with his violent past.Read More »

  • Lav Diaz – The Boy Who Chose The Earth (2018)

    2011-2020ArthouseLav DiazPhilippines

    Both the shortest Lav Diaz film, and the longest Viennale trailer:

    Quote:
    VIENNALE TRAILER 2018
    THE BOY WHO CHOSE THE EARTH by Lav Diaz

    The Viennale is pleased to announce that this year’s trailer was created by the multiple award-winning Filipino director Lav Diaz. Many of his films, outstanding also due to their length, have been shown at previous Viennale festivals. In 2014 he won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival and two years ago the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for THE WOMAN WHO LEFT.Read More »

  • Lav Diaz – Hele sa hiwagang hapis AKA A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery (2016)

    2011-2020ArthouseDramaLav DiazPhilippines

    29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

    Synopsis
    The search for the body of Andres Bonifacio.Read More »

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