Latest news with #LavDiaz
SBS Australia
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- SBS Australia
SBS News in Filipino, Saturday 14 June 2025
A New South Wales inquiry has found more than 40,000 people, mainly migrant workers, are trapped in modern slavery. State and federal health ministers have agreed to a rapid review of I-V-F clinic rules. Filipino director Lav Diaz's Cannes film on Ferdinand Magellan screens at the Sydney film festival. SBS Filipino 14/06/2025 05:51 📢 Where to Catch SBS Filipino
South China Morning Post
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Rising hopes of a revival in Filipino cinema
Filipino cinema made a resounding statement at this year's Cannes Film Festival, signalling a potential return to the global stage for a country with a rich, yet often overlooked, cinematic history. Five Filipino-produced films graced the Croisette, including acclaimed director Lav Diaz's feature-length production Magellan , Japanese co-production Renoir, and short films Bleat! and Ali. Advertisement The festival marked a historic moment for Filipina filmmakers. Kyla Danelle Romero became the first Filipina filmmaker to compete for the Palme d'Or in the 'Short Films in Competition' section with her 15-minute film Agapito, a poignant story about an impoverished family working as pin-setters in an old bowling alley. Her director of photography, Geia de Vera, also made a statement as one of the first Filipina cinematographers featured in the same category. The news is a welcome sign that Filipino cinema may be ready to make an international comeback and shows 'a renewed interest in what artists from this side of the world have to offer in terms of cinematic storytelling,' according to Anne Frances Sangil, associate professor at De La Salle University. While Filipino films may not boast the same global renown as those from regional powerhouses such as Japan or South Korea, the country has long enjoyed 'a definitive, strong national cinema,' declares Sangil. During its 1950s heyday, the local film industry produced hundreds of films. The very best received international acclaim – Manuel Conde's Genghis Khan earned a technical achievement citation at the 1952 Venice Film Festival. Despite its lack of overseas influence, Filipino cinema has been quietly flourishing domestically for some time. Advertisement 'The new era of Filipino cinema began long ago, with the coming of the New Wave [around the millennium],' says Parichay Patra, a film critic, academic and co-editor of Sine Ni Lav Diaz, the first book-length study of Lav Diaz. 'With more dedicated festivals, short and independent works, it could acquire more visibility on the international scene.'
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nour Films Takes French Rights to Lav Diaz's ‘Magellan' Ahead of Cannes Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)
Sales agency Luxbox has closed a distribution deal for France with Nour Films on Lav Diaz's 'Magellan,' starring Gael García Bernal, which has its world premiere in the Cannes Premiere section of the Cannes Film Festival. The film, set in the 16th century, follows Magellan, a young and ambitious Portuguese navigator. He rebels against the power of the King of Portugal, who doesn't support his dream of discovering the world, and persuades the Spanish monarchy to fund his bold expedition to the fabled lands of the East. More from Variety Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller Join James Gray's 'Paper Tiger,' Replacing Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong Mario Martone Talks Cannes-Bound 'Fuori' Starring Valeria Golino Who 'Was Imbued With the Spirit of Goliarda Sapienza' as First Clip Is Revealed (EXCLUSIVE) Variety Celebrates French Cinema at Pre-Cannes Dinner Hosted at Parisian Landmark Restaurant Laperouse The voyage is exhausting beyond expectations, with hunger and mutiny pushing the crew to their limits. Upon reaching the islands of the Malayan Archipelago, Magellan's mind changes. He becomes obsessed with conquest and conversion, which sparks violent uprisings beyond his control. The Nour Films team said in a joint statement: 'With rare evocative power, 'Magellan' stands out as a new masterpiece by Lav Diaz. The Filipino filmmaker delivers a pictorial fresco of the 16th century, at once a sensory immersion and an uncompromising political perspective on colonial violence. 'Gael García Bernal plays an unsettling Magellan, full of contradictions. His magnetic, restrained performance gives flesh to this mythical character, without ever sanctifying him. A monumental film that Nour Films is proud to support.' Nour Films was the distributor of Berlinale 2018 Golden Bear winner 'Touch Me Not,' Cannes 2023 Caméra d'Or winner 'Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,' Berlinale 2023 documentary 'Seven Winters in Tehran' and Berlinale 2024 Teddy Award winner 'All Shall Be Well.' The producer of 'Magellan' is Joaquim Sapinho at Rosa Filmes in Portugal. The co-producers are Andergraun Films (Spain), Black Cap Pictures (Philippines), Ten17P (Philippines), El Viaje Filmes (Spain), Volos Films (Taiwan), Lib Films (France) and AKP21 (France). Diaz's previous films include 'The Woman Who Left,' which won Venice's Golden Lion in 2016, and 'From What Is Before,' which won Locarno's Golden Leopard in 2014. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Lav Diaz to Direct ‘An Amazon' With Sine Olivia Pilipinas and Silverbelt Films Producing (EXCLUSIVE)
Filipino director Lav Diaz is in pre-production with 'An Amazon,' following the world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival of 'Magellan,' starring Gael Garcia Bernal. The project will be shot in Diaz's native Philippines. Diaz' Sine Olivia Pilipinas will produce the film with the French production company Silverbelt Films, founded by Pierre-Yves Bezat, who previously worked at Films Boutique. More from Variety Lav Diaz Opens Up About Rare Acting Role in Psychological Horror 'The Sacrifice,' First Look Unveiled (EXCLUSIVE) Nour Films Takes French Rights to Lav Diaz's 'Magellan' Ahead of Cannes Premiere (EXCLUSIVE) Lav Diaz's 'Magellan,' Starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Boarded by Luxbox Ahead of Cannes Premiere (EXCLUSIVE) The new film is based on a little known short story written by Alexandre Dumas. It will be the first film that Diaz will make in English, and will include some internationally well-known actors among its cast. 'An Amazon' is the story of a young man who meets a mysterious and masked woman during a ball. She refuses to disclose her identity, and swears to kill him if he reveals their affair. Bezat said: 'For 'An Amazon,' Lav Diaz was extremely inspired since our very first discussions around this deep and unknown story by Dumas, and the way it feels more contemporary than ever almost 200 years later.' According to Diaz, 'This Dumas story keeps striking me over and over again since we discussed this work with Pierre-Yves Bezat. The narration of 'An Amazon' has deep emotions and deep mystery around it, and is more contemporary than ever as our modern dictators' masks are cracking everyday.' 'An Amazon' will be shot at the end of this year, and is currently in the final stage of its financing. Diaz's previous films include 'From What Is Before,' which won Locarno's Golden Leopard in 2014, 'A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery,' winner of Berlin's Alfred Bauer Award in 2016, and 'The Woman Who Left,' which won Venice's Golden Lion in 2016. Silverbelt Films, which was set up in January 2023, also distributes short films, including 'Free Drum Kit' by Carmen Leroi, selected in competition at Cannes' Critics' Week. Best of Variety 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz
South China Morning Post
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Cannes 2025: Magellan movie review – Gael García Bernal plays explorer in engrossing epic
4.5/5 stars The Cannes Film Festival may be hosting yet another virtual-reality programme this year, but the most immersive event on the Croisette in the French seaside city so far has been the premiere of an old-school, two-dimensional, three-hour movie filmed in the classic 4:3 aspect ratio. Revolving around its titular Portuguese explorer's expeditions to Southeast Asia in the early 16th century, Magellan is relentlessly engrossing – an epic in which viewers witness the distress, death and destruction brought about by one man's delusions of colonial conquest. By presenting Ferdinand Magellan as a dogmatic, slave-owning colonialist who brooks no dissent from his quixotic mission, Filipino auteur Lav Diaz and his Mexican lead actor Gael García Bernal have delivered a subversive portrait of a complicated figure who has long been mythologised as a benign bringer of enlightenment. Play Interestingly, Magellan also sets out to undermine the narrative about the explorer's misdeeds in Diaz's home country as well. Rather than sticking to the orthodox view of Magellan's death in the Philippines as a glorious victory against colonialism, Diaz depicts indigenous chieftains as scheming manipulators who use this pigheaded white man as a pawn for their own politicking.
