Lav Diaz (1958, Cotabato, Philippines) studied at the Mowelfund Film Institute in Quezon City. His breakthrough came with Batang West Side, with a respectable length of five hours, chosen as best film at the film festivals in Brussels and Singapore. Evolution of a Filipino Family lasts 10.5 hours and was screened last year in Rotterdam.

filmography

2006 Heremias/Jeremiah
2004 Ebolusyon ng isang pamilyang Pilipino/Evolution of a Filipino Family
2002 Hesus rebolusyonaryo/Jesus Revolutionary
2002 Batang West Side
1999 Hubad sa ilalim ng buwan/Naked Under the Moon
1999 Burger Boys
1998 Serafin Geronimo, criminal ng baryo concepcion/The Criminal of Barrio Concepcion

Director’s statement

Heremias’ character is representative of the Filipino persona, a metaphor for a being searching for truth, groping for answers, surviving amid injustice. Creating the character of Heremias is also representative of my aesthetic stand, and my philosophy of cinema as a Filipino filmmaker. There is a need to tell the Filipino story, truthfully, if only to be able to understand his psyche, his being and his persona. It must be put into a proper perspective, imperatively with the goal of struggling to define and redeem him. And Philippine cinema, must be put to task on tackling the Filipino issue on this level: to help define and redeem the Filipino. One of the higher functions of great cinema, an inherent role of the arts, is to help redeem humanity

Nacer Khemir | Kollo Daniel Sanou | Abolfazl Jalili | Beto Brant | Peter Mettler | Valeska Grisebach | Idrissou Mora Kpai | Bill Daniel | William E. Jones | Lav Diaz | Raya Martin | Želimir Žilnik| Dragomir Zupanc