8-HOUR RP FILM IS BEST FEATURE IN VENICE FESTIVAL

ORIZZONTI SIDEBAR
8-hour RP film is best feature in Venice Festival

By Ruben V. Nepales
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:51:00 09/08/2008

TORONTO—“Melancholia” by the Philippines’ Lav Diaz has won the Orizzonti prize for Best

Feature Film in the Venice Film Festival.

The 65th Venice film fest, which ran from Aug. 27 to Sept. 6, has an Orizzonti or New

Horizons section that has for the past four years focused on the latest trends in cinema

suspended between fiction and documentary.

“Melancholia,” which had the honor of closing the Orizzonti sidebar of the Venice film

fest, runs almost eight hours. The Orizzonti decided to screen the film with two breaks.

Noted as the Filipino auteur of epic-length films, Diaz has consistently done films that

are over five hours in running time.

The Philippines was also represented in the Orizzonti by Francis Xavier E. Pasion’s “Jay,”

which officially opened the Orizzonti on Aug. 29.

In the age of MTV, Diaz’s marathon films are considered an oddity. He is one of the very

few directors in the world who make films that run as long as, or longer than, most

people’s work days.

Diaz’s “Ebolusyon ng Isang Pamilyang Pilipino,” shot in the United States, clocks in at a

staggering 10 hours plus.

“Death in the Land of Encantos,” which also closed Orizzonti last year, is nine hours

long. Perhaps not meaning to allude to the length of his entry, Diaz exclaimed, “Long live

Philippine cinema!” in his acceptance speech at the awards night last year when “Encantos”

won a Special Mention prize.

Diaz previously told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the Venice film festival would

screen his entry with two breaks. “The programmers requested for two breaks,” he said.

“OK lang. Ayoko sana pero mapilit sila (I was unwilling at first but they were very

persuasive). My films are really meant to be seen in one sitting para may tamang (so

there’s just the right amount of) immersion. There were no breaks during the screening of

‘Encantos’ last year. People who really follow my work do not like breaks. But I do

understand the concerns of the programmers. They want the audience to be comfortable. Who

can argue with comfort?”

Sadness, madness

“Melancholia,” according to Diaz, asks the following questions: “Why is there so much

sadness and too much madness in this world? Is happiness just a concept? Is living just a

process to measure man’s pain?”

Diaz recalled what was memorable about the marathon screening of “Encantos” last year:

“Besides the sight of people bringing food and other ‘tools’ to prepare for the experience

or battle, one really interesting incident was when a young man, in his early 20s, came to

me after the showing of ‘Encantos.’ Almost in tears, he told me that he is a Filipino who

has never been to the islands, that he became really a Filipino after watching the film,

and that he wanted to go ‘home.’”

The prolific filmmaker also said: “The advantage of having my films closing the Orizzonti

is that I have more room or time to edit the film. I have this nasty habit of shooting and

shooting until I realize that the deadline is right [there] in front of my door. The

disadvantage, of course, is that when it’s closing time, that means more than half of the

festival attendees have left by then.”

Exposure

The Cotabato native wanted to bring seven people from the cast and crew to the Venice film

fest held on the island of Lido but was allowed to bring only three from his cast and crew

after his meeting with the Film Development Council of the Philippines.

He shared the triumph in Venice with Angeli Bayani (actress), Perry Dizon (actor) and

Kristine Kintana (production supervisor).

Diaz had hoped to bring Roeder (actor), Dante Perez (actor/production designer), Jay

Ramirez (technical supervisor) and Emman dela Cruz (actor/documentarian).

“I tried to bring all these people for the exposure and the workshop,” he explained.

“It’s not really healthy that only the director and producer go to the festivals. We need

to expose our people para lumawak ang kamalayan, para mas may tamang cultural interaction

man lang (to widen their consciousness, to experience cultural interaction), or simply, to

[enhance] their film education. Festivals are great venues for this.”

Opening up to Pinoy films

Diaz added: “Having two Filipino films at this year’s Venice film fest is a great sign,”

referring to the Venice event’s inclusion of “Melancholia” and “Jay” in its “Orizzonti”

sidebar.

“Nagbubukas na talaga sila (They are opening up to Filipino films).”
The director, whose full name is Lavrente Indico Diaz, described how digital technology

has energized Philippine cinema.

“The technology liberated cinema. The deluge of new work, especially from very young and

talented filmmakers like Francis Pasion, is a direct result of this. Liberation is the

vision of all revolutions. Finally, art is not feudal, as shown by the digital

revolution,” he said.