
Lav Diaz
Directing
Biography
Lavrente 'Lav' Indico Diaz (born December 30, 1958) is a Filipino independent filmmaker and former film critic. He is known as one of the key practitioners of the slow cinema genre, producing a diverse range of some of the longest narrative films that explore social and political issues, minimalistic storytelling, long takes, and cinematic form. Although he had been making films since the late 1990s, Diaz didn't attract much public attention outside of the Philippines and the festival circuit until the release of Norte, the End of History, which was entered into Un Certain Regard section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. His three subsequent films have received much critical attention and many awards with 2014's From What Is Before earning him the Golden Leopard at the 2014 Locarno International Film Festival as well as a nomination for the Asian Film Award for Best Director, 2016's A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery competing for the Golden Bear at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival and winning the Alfred Bauer Prize, and 2016's The Woman Who Left competing at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival and winning the Golden Lion.
Known For

At the dawn of the modern era, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan leads an expedition under the Spanish crown in search of the first westward route to the Spice Islands. He embarks on a perilous journey across the uncharted Pacific, where his fleet faces starvation, mutiny, and the psychological toll of endless seas. Upon reaching the shores of Cebu, Magellan is pulled into a fatal conflict with the natives by his drive to spread Catholicism, culminating in his tragic doom.
Magellan

An embittered law student commits a brutal double murder; a family man takes the fall and is forced to take a harsh sentence; and a mother and her two children wander the countryside in search of some kind of redemption.
Norte, the End of History

Made for the Venice Film Festival's 70th anniversary, seventy filmmakers made a short film between 60 and 90 seconds long on their interpretation of the future of cinema.
Venice 70: Future Reloaded

A man named Jesus takes on the ruling military junta.
Jesus the Revolutionary

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.
Prologue to the Great Desaparecido

A tribute to filmmakers and National Artists Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal. In the "Day" segment, Piolo Pacual portrays the role of William, a drug addict who tries to rebuild his sense of self and reconnect with the people around him. For the "Night" segment, Pascual portrays the role of Philip, who works as a bodyguard for a mayor's son. The bodyguard believes that his boss considers him as part of the family but after a shooting incident, he realizes his real worth to his boss. As he struggles to hide, he is slowly consumed by the claws of darkness lurking the city.
Manila

In a sophisticated near perfect society, citizens live with paper bags on heads to dissolve differences. Tensions rise when the whispers of a mythical land without the bags start to float and a fresh council member sparks an accidental revolution.
Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust

Imahe Nasyon is a groundbreaking, conceptual omnibus film by 20 alternative filmmakers who were tasked to present their personal visions on national issues. Renowned line producers Jon and Carol Red hatched the idea of revisiting the 1986 EDSA revolution, challenging directors to answer the question "What happened after 1986?" with a short film not longer than five minutes each. Despite individual techniques, the same goal is shared: to depict a truthful image of the nation at present.
Image Nation

Andrés Bonifacio is celebrated as the father of the Philippines Revolution against Spanish colonial rule. This eight-hour epic examines this myth, undertaking an expedition into history through various interwoven narrative threads, held together by an exploration of the individual’s role in history.
A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery

Kagadanan sa Banwaan Ning mga Engkanto (English: Death in the Land of Encantos) is a 2007 Filipino television miniseries created and written by Lav Diaz. The five-episode drama would be edited into a nine-hour feature released in 2013. Philippine poet Benjamin Agusan hearkens back to his village Padang after seven years in Europe. Horrified to discover that the community has been buried under landslides, he wanders the countryside, reconnecting with friends, lovers, and family whose lives teeter on the brink of destruction.
Death in the Land of Encantos

Madmen control Manila in 2034 after massive volcanic eruptions have plunged Southeast Asia into darkness.
The Halt

When a Filipino teen is found fatally shot on the streets of New Jersey, the investigation into his death reveals the struggles of the Filipino-American community, including the horrifying effects of methamphetamine on its youth.
Batang West Side

With the imminent death of his autocratic grandfather, coinciding with the burgeoning oppressive regime of Ferdinand Marcos, Servando Monzon III, inheritor of the hacienda and businesses of his powerful clan, agonises on becoming the new feudal lord and capitulating with Marcos’ designs to control the Philippines. Aware of his clan’s long history of violence, Monzon knows the very violent history of his county and foresees a very violent future with the dictatorship.
A Tale of Filipino Violence

A young woman recalls how her father (a fallen priest), her mother (a woman with a secret past) and her teenage sister returned with her to live in their ancestral home after the family business failed. She was plagued with mysterious problems of sleepwalking and began a romance with a young man who tried to cure her.
Naked Under the Moon

After three decades' wrongful incarceration for murder, a woman discovers that her friend and fellow inmate committed the murder of which she was accused. This leads to her release and subsequent discovery of the man who framed her — her ruling class ex-lover.
The Woman Who Left

Spanning from 1971 to 1987, in rural areas under the Marcos regime, a poor farming family struggle to overcome challenges brought on by corruption and greed for power.
Evolution of a Filipino Family

In late 1970s Philippines, a military-controlled militia oppresses a remote village, spreading terror both physical and psychological. Fearless young doctor Lorena opens a clinic for the poor but disappears without a trace. Her activist poet husband sets out to find her.
Season of the Devil

A one-of-a-kind legacy project produced by TBA Studios, Habambuhay is a homage to the centennial anniversary of Philippine cinema–an insightfully entertaining documentary series, revisiting the personal experiences of those who work in front of or behind the cameras, those who have shaped the film industry of the Philippines for the longest time.
Habambuhay: Remembering Philippine Cinema

In this whimsical historical fresco, a counterpoint to today’s urgent political issues, the figure of the Filipino revolutionary Rizal is revisited in the light of early silent films.
Rizal's Makamisa: Phantasm of Revenge

A wandering peddler suddenly decides to separates from his group of travellers, his reasons are unknown and the dangers will be many.