Magellan (2025)
Director: Lav Diaz Run Time: 163 min. Release Year: 2025
Starring: Amado Arjay Babon, Ângela Ramos, Dario Yazbek Bernal, Gael García Bernal, Ronnie Lazaro
Country: Portugal, Spain, Philippines, France, Taiwan
Language: Portuguese, Spanish, Cebuano, French
About the film:
In the 16th century, Ferdinand Magellan, a young and ambitious Portuguese navigator, 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.
About the filmmaker:
Lav Diaz 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 longest narrative films that explore social and political issues, minimalistic storytelling, long takes and cinematic form.
Diaz started making films in the late 1990s. His first international exposure was at the Hong Kong International Film Festival with his directorial debut Serafin Geronimo: Ang Kriminal ng Baryo Concepcion (The Criminal of Barrio Concepcion, 1999). His films Batang West Side (2001) and Evolution of a Filipino Family (2004) both feature the expanded timespans that have become part of his cinematic trademark. Norte, the End of History (2013) premiered at Cannes Film Festival, Un Certain Regard to critical acclaim.
Diaz is among one of the most critically acclaimed contemporary Filipino filmmakers, with his subsequent films have likewise received positive critical attention and many awards: From What Is Before (2014) won the Golden Leopard at the 2014 Locarno International Film Festival; A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery (2016) won the Alfred Bauer Prize (Silver Bear) at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival; and The Woman Who Left (2016) won the Golden Lion at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival. He is a recipient of 2018’s FAMAS Lifetime Achievement Award and 2021’s Natatanging Gawad Urian (Gawad Urian Lifetime Achievement Award).
Magellan (2025) is Diaz’s first film not in the Tagalog language, and stars Gael García Bernal as Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.
See our upcoming films