Prologue to the Great Desaparecido – Lav Diaz (2013)
It’s rare that Lav Diaz creates a short film. His contribution to a film omnibus for the Venice Film Festival last year was, I think, his shortest film to date, followed by his eight minute…
Philippines
Imburnal – Sherad Anthony Sanchez (2008)
If you’re done watching Lav Diaz’s long films and need a film to fix this problem, Sherad Anthony Sanchez’ three-and-a-half hour film Imburnal (2008) may be a good start. I wanted to see the film…
The concentrationary universe in the films of Lav Diaz (paper)
RPG Conference, University of Stirling, 4 September 2014 Introduction At the end of 1943, Primo Levi, a trained chemist from Italy, was arrested, and a few months later sent to Auschwitz concentration camp. At the…
Interview with Lav Diaz (Extracts, Part III)
This is the third and last installment of my interview with Lav Diaz. Parts I and II can be found here and here. I have more material, but it needs to be incorporated into my…
In defense of a lack of craft
I read a rather irritating article about Lav Diaz’s Norte, written by Adrian Martin for the Sight & Sound magazine. His reading of the film is good, but the last paragraph of the article makes…
Evolution of a Filipino Family – Lav Diaz (2004)
The following are initial thoughts after having seen Diaz’s eleven hour epic Evolution of a Filipino Family. Similar to all of his other films, there is a lot to say and I will probably return to…
Alimuom – Benjamin Agusan (poetry)
Benjamin Agusan is a fictional poet in Lav Diaz’s Death in the Land of Encantos (2007). A great poet on the verge of losing his sanity. He is also, in some ways, the alter ego of Diaz,…
Death in the Land of Encantos – Lav Diaz (2007)
I believe that I keep mentioning this film, but I have never really made a proper (blog) case out of it. So let’s go into a bit more detail about Lav Diaz’s painful trip through…
Day 23 – A short film about the Indio Nacional (Martin)
I should have watched Raya Martin’s films much earlier. But better late than never. Not all of his films feel quite as slow as his feature debut, which he made at the young age of…
Day 9 – Journey on the Plain (Tarr)
It was new to me that Béla Tarr directed a short film called Journey on the Plain in 1995, a year after the release of his seven-hour epic (and masterpiece) Sátántángo. I was only familiar with the…