Lav Diaz
Director · b. 1958 · Columbio, Sultan Kudarat, Philippines
Lavrente 'Lav' Indico Diaz (born December 30, 1958) 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 some of the longest narrative films that explore social and political issues, minimalistic storytelling, long takes, and cinematic form. Although he had been making films since the late 1990s, Diaz didn't attract much public attention outside of the Philippines and the festival circuit until the release of Norte, the End of History, which was entered into Un Certain Regard section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. His three subsequent films have received much critical attention and many awards with 2014's From What Is Before earning him the Golden Leopard at the 2014 Locarno International Film Festival as well as a nomination for the Asian Film Award for Best Director, 2016's A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery competing for the Golden Bear at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival and winning the Alfred Bauer Prize, and 2016's The Woman Who Left competing at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival and winning the Golden Lion.
Movies20
Movie5.7AnimationFantasyIn a sophisticated near perfect society, citizens live with paper bags on heads to dissolve differences. Tensions rise when the whispers of a mythical land without the bags start to float and a fresh council member sparks an accidental revolution.
Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust
2024 · 11 votes
Movie5.0DramaStories abound in Cebu about a woman rumored to be a murderous monster, but behind the myth is a mother seeking justice.
Lily
2016 · 1 votes
Movie2.0DocumentaryDriving around the streets of Cuba, Lav Diaz – the famous Filipino director – and Gustavo Flecha - a talkative Cuban taxi driver – find themselves discussing about politics, migration, social conditions and love; touching many personal stories and experiences, they create an historical affresco of the conditions of their own countries.
Taxibol
2023 · 1 votes
MovieDramaA young filmmaker is bent on recreating forgotten massacres from Philippine history, but when she begins shooting at a site where 1,000 men, women, and children were slaughtered, angry spirits are awakened and the lives of her team and the local villagers are put in peril.
Cinemartyrs
2025
Movie5.0DocumentaryAn intimate and often heartbreaking portrait of one of the Philippines' most beloved screen icons.
The Last Pinoy Action King
2015 · 1 votes
Movie
Movie5.0DramaEarly 20th century Philippines. The sounds of war signal the arrival of the Americans. A mother and son flee to the mountains, hoping for a quiet life. One day, the son discovers a wounded woman in the middle of the forest, and decides to bring her home.
Independencia
2010 · 7 votes
Movie6.4DramaA tribute to filmmakers and National Artists Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal. In the "Day" segment, Piolo Pacual portrays the role of William, a drug addict who tries to rebuild his sense of self and reconnect with the people around him. For the "Night" segment, Pascual portrays the role of Philip, who works as a bodyguard for a mayor's son. The bodyguard believes that his boss considers him as part of the family but after a shooting incident, he realizes his real worth to his boss. As he struggles to hide, he is slowly consumed by the claws of darkness lurking the city.
Manila
2009 · 8 votes
Movie8.0The start of the film sets the tone. A tortured man looks as if he will castrate himself. Later he staggers aimlessly and bleeding heavily through the streets of a town that is just waking up. In parallel, the film shows the marital discussions of a couple, with the husband hiding behind the camera.
MovieDocumentary"Life in 24 Frames a Second" is a film about hardship, misfortune, perseverance and triumph. The personal stories of John Woo (The Killer), Anurag Kashyap (Sacred Games), Rithy Panh (The Missing Picture) and Lav Diaz (The Woman Who Left), who survived extreme poverty, disease, sexual abuse, genocide and civil war to go on to become maestros of world cinema. 'Survivors' united by their abiding love of the movies.
Movie4.8DocumentaryDocumentary profiling the directors involved in the loose Philippine New Wave filmmaking movement.
Philippine New Wave: This Is Not a Film Movement
2010 · 4 votes
- Movie
Juan Baybayin searches for the early alphabet of the Filipino and the journey takes him to different kind of adventures. A personal insights of the filmmaker regarding the baybayin-the early Filipino writings before the Spanish colonizers came to the island.
- MovieDocumentary
The documentary serves as a tribute to National Artist for Cinema Gerardo de Leon in celebration of his Centennial Year. “Salamat sa Alaala.” is inspired by the music composed by the late film director when he was a teenager playing background music for silent movies in Manila theatres. The video opens up with a capsulated history of the birth of the Filipino movies followed by a series of shots of veteran actresses, the academe and the young generation of filmmakers affirming his unique qualities as a world-class film figure. Then we unravel his private life as a family man. The documentary is one way of thanking him for his lasting legacy in the art form he left behind.
MovieDramaFantasyIn this whimsical historical fresco, a counterpoint to today’s urgent political issues, the figure of the Filipino revolutionary Rizal is revisited in the light of early silent films.
Movie6.5DramaStructured and less beholden to its narrative, a 19th-century woman visits present-day Philippines and observes three interwoven stories: those of a prostitute, a group of criminals, and a musician.
Movie8.5ComedyDramaLorna is sixty year old woman who is constantly searching for the right man, having failed at so many relationships. Having lived close to a lifetime alone, she decides to take another stab at moving on and more importantly, love.
Lorna
2014 · 2 votes
MovieDramaInspired by a true news account, this is the astounding story of a lone deranged hijacker who has struggled to survive in the chaos of modern Philippine society.
- MovieDocumentary
Documentary about the history of Philippine cinema.
MovieComedyAn industry veteran is given a chance to produce and star in his own movie. But he quickly finds movie production isn't quite as glamorous as it seems.
Echoserang Frog
2014
MovieDramaThrillerAn actor with an illustrious career decides to write, direct, and act in a film that will inevitably bring him closer to his own demise before revealing that his truth may actually be far from what he has become.