Country: Philippines
Year: 2022
Duration: 412'
With the imminent death of his autocratic grandfather, coinciding with the burgeoning oppressive regime of Ferdinand Marcos, Servando Monzon VI, inheritor of the hacienda and businesses of his powerful clan, agonizes on becoming the new feudal lord and capitulating with Marcos’ designs to control the Philippines. He is aware of his clan’s long history of violence; he knows the very violent history of his county; and he foresees a very violent future with the Marcos dictatorship.
Biography
film director
Lav Diaz
(Cotabato, Philippines, 1958) studied at the Mowelfund Film Institute in Quezon City and debuted in 1997 with The Criminal of Barrio Concepcion, making a name for himself as one of the most innovative directors of Filipino cinema. Lasting legitimation arrived with Batang West Side (2002), which received awards at Brussels and Singapore, and with Evolution of a Filipino Family (2004), presented at Rotterdam and Turin, as also the documentary Storm Children (2014) and his masterpieces A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery (2016). His films have been presented in Cannes (Norte - The End of History, 2013), Locarno (From What Is Before, 2014, Golden Leopard), Berlin (A Lullaby for the Sorrowful Mystery, 2016, Alfred Bauer Award) and Venice (The Woman Who Left, 2016, Golden Lion).
FILMOGRAFIA
Serafin Geronimo, kriminal ng baryo concepcion (The Criminal of Barrio Concepcion, 1998), Burger Boys (1999), Batang West Side (2002), Hesus rebolusyonaryo (Hesus the Revolutionary, 2002), Ebolusyon ng isang pamilayang Pilipino (Evolution of a Filipino Family, 2004), Heremias: Unang aklat - Ang alamat ng prinsesang bayawak (2005), Melancholia (2008), Florentina Hubaldo, CTE (2012), Norte, hangganan ng kasaysayan (Norte - The End of History, 2013), Mula sa kung ano ang noon (From What Is Before, 2014), Hele sa hiwagang hapis (A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery, 2016), Ang babayeng 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), Essential Truths of the Lake (2023), Phantosmia (2024), Magalhães (Magellan, 2025).
Declaration
film director
“This is a film made for television, or I ‘constructed’ a film from a commissioned television series; my first. I did write for television before, just a few teleplays for a drama anthology and a sitcom, and some skits/scenes for an educational show for children. So, the nature of things coming from the idiot box at least I have some understanding despite ignoring its existence for forty years now. But during my intermittent travels, in spaces called hotel rooms and Airbnb apartments, I do open CNN or BBC to check the news and the time of day (I don’t have a watch or a cellphone). The film version is called A Tale of Filipino Violence and the television series will be called Servando Magdamag.”
Cast
& Credits
DIRECTOR, SCREENPLAY, FILM EDITING, PRODUCTION DESIGN, PRODUCER: FILM EDITING: Lav Diaz CINEMATOGRAPHY: Lav Diaz, Daniel Uy COSTUME DESIGN: Erlyn Medalle, Angelica Shivers, Carl Tanseco SOUND: Dale Martin, JR Miano CAST: John Lloyd Cruz, Bart Guingona, Agot Isidro, Hazel Orencio, Earl Ignacio, Gio Gahol, Topper Fabregas, Nanding Josef PRODUCTION: Sine Olivia Pilipinas, ABS-CBN Film Productions, Cinema One, Black Sheep.
CONTACT:
Diversion - Patitta J. festivals@diversion-th.com
