A FILM BY LAV DIAZ A LULLABY TO THE SORROWFUL MYSTERY

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Madeleine Wells
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1 A FILM BY LAV DIAZ A LULLABY TO THE SORROWFUL MYSTERY

3 A LULLABY TO THE SORROWFUL MYSTERY A FILM BY LAV DIAZ with John Lloyd Cruz, Piolo Pascual, Hazel Orencio, Alessandra De Rossi PRODUCED BY TEN17P, EPICMEDIA, SINE OLIVIA PILIPINAS IN COOPERATION WITH STAR CINEMA, ABS-CBN FILM PRODUCTIONS INC, AKANGA FILM ASIA, POTOCOL DISSIDENZ FILMS, HUBERT BALS FUND, CENTRE NATIONAL DES ARTS PLASTIQUES, ASIAN PROJECT MARKET INTERNATIONAL PRESS RICHARD LORMAND FILM PRESS PLUS tel AT THE BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL (Feb 11-21): IntlPressIT@aol.com WORLD SALES FILMS BOUTIQUE Köpenicker Strasse Berlin, Germany Tel : info@filmsboutique.com Drama - Philippines - DCP min

5 SYNOPSIS Interconnected narrative threads on the Philippine Revolution of against Spain characterize Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis--the story of the ballad Jocelynang Baliwag, which became the hymn of the revolution; Gregoria de Jesus forlorn search for the body of the Father of Philippine Revolution Andres Bonifacio; the journey of our national heroes fictional book characters Simon and Isagani; the role of the Philippine mythical hero of strength Bernardo Carpio and the half-man, half-horse Tikbalang/Engkanto, on the Filipino psyche. It is a marriage of history, literature and mythology. DIRECTOR S STATEMENT It is said that it is perilous to argue about historical details. It is also said that it is more perilous to correct any distortions made on historical events. But that it is most perilous of all to turn one s back to the truth behind these events. There is an endless discourse about the truth of Andres Bonifacio s death, oftentimes bitter, vicious, ambiguous, tiring and resigned. Discussions often lead to bloody results. Fear reigns nowadays, an enduring cowardice. But to yearn for freedom is not an illusion. There are only conquerors and the conquered, abusers and the abused. It is our obligation to free our motherland from those who do not own it because history remembers. I only hope that this rebellion could mean something for the country. Lavrente Indico Diaz. A LULLABY TO THE SORROWFUL MYSTERY - 05

7 JOCELYNANG BALIWAG Officially known as Musica del Legitimo Kundiman Procedente del Campo Insurecto (Music of the Legitimate Kundiman that Proceeds from the Insurgents), Jocelynang Baliwag was the favorite ballad among the revolutionaries during the Philippine Revolution of earning it the title Kundiman of the Revolution. In the guise of a love and courtship song, it features lyrics dedicated to a young and beautiful Filipina idolized in the Bulacan town of Baliuag named Josefa Pepita Tiongson y Lara who symbolizes the image of the beloved Motherland, the Inang Bayang Katagalugan or Filipinas. Only you my soul worships, my beloved O purity incarnate, great beauty unmatched Exquisite perfume of an unblemished flower Gentle spring of joy and inspiration s power Eden found, fount of happiness sublime The joy you bring can last me for a lifetime For your teasing glance and the sweetest of sweet smiles Buds of flowers gladly bloom for miles and miles and miles Blind trust in your mercy, somehow my heart abides A rope of hope that I cling to until this fear subsides You re my life, my salvation, you will not let me down In this sea of uncertainty, you will not let me drown Most humble, most earnest, in the end I still beg you Grant a measure of your love to this supplicant so true Beggars are strangely grateful for pity-- in a fashion Better than a toxic life, without soul and without passion A LULLABY TO THE SORROWFUL MYSTERY - 07

8 COMMENTS FROM WRITER-DIRECTOR LAV DIAZ AN ACT OF ENGAGEMENT The Katipunan Revolution or the Philippine Revolution ended the more than three hundred years of oppressive Spanish colonization of our shores. Besides my passion for it, understanding the struggle of my people and other cultures, I find the great narratives fascinating. The use of history in my cinema is an act of engagement, putting more gravitas on the discourse on the Filipino struggle. Cinema has the power to immortalize epochs, e. g., reenactments of events and incidents of the past, it could be documentary or fictional treatments, and this makes the medium a most profound chronicler of humanity s struggle. A MIRROR OF OUR BEING Cinema s earnest immersive attribute is akin to psychiatry, where people are reminded, Hey, this is what happened. Now, they re being confronted and they ll examine the past; and the past becomes the present, and experiencing it creates an immediacy, or even an urgency, or even transcendence. History is a mirror of our being. And cinema appropriates that. But of course there s always the danger of revisionism and excessive didacticism. What s imperative is to try to be very objective by creating fulfilled characters and to conduct a lot of research to be nearer the issue of truth. STAR POWER Piolo Pascual and John Lloyd Cruz are humongous marquee names in the Philippines. They understood the value of this film s reaching the Filipino masses and so they came on board. It would look like an awkward joining of forces as I am on the other side of the fence, to say the least, but more than the romantic idea of working with a different filmmaker, they knew that it is a responsibility. We cast aside all caste issues. And I thank them for that.

9 EMANCIPATION My first so-called long film, the five-hour Batang West Side, was a shock to the system, then. This was It was followed by the eleven-hour Evolution of a Filipino Family, the nine-hour Heremias, Book One, the nine-hour Death in the Land of Encantos, the eight-hour Melancholia, the six-hour Century of Birthing, the six-hour Florentina Hubaldo, CTE, the four-hour Norte, End of History, the six-hour From What is Before and now, this eight-hour A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery. The conventional Filipino cinema is attached to the market-imposed duration You cannot go beyond two hours; the profit will fly out of the window. I m not part of that market. I ve emancipated my cinema. My struggle is to put my cinema alongside humanity s struggle. And man s greatest struggle is time. I want to fathom time. My struggle to understand the nature of cinema is akin to my struggle to understand the nature of man. SIMPLIFICATON It s an application of Zen. I simplified my cinema. It has to be direct, sans adornments, appropriating the benevolence of nature, or space as the medium of the moving image instead of subordinating the canvas just to the movement of some characters. BLACK AND WHITE Cinema for me is black and white. I did use color in some of my works but I always see cinema as black and white. I grew up watching a lot of the early cinema. It was an alternative world in my youth. I still see it as my alternative habitat. I find greater discourse there, in the grays and the whites and the blacks. It s a fixation. In the case of A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery, beyond the discourse on history, it s an homage again to the old cinema that I knew, and an amalgam of Filipino comic-book chiaroscuro, contrasty film noir lighting and some shades of German Expressionism. A LULLABY TO THE SORROWFUL MYSTERY - 09

11 LAV DIAZ ( WRITER, DIRECTOR) Lavrente Indico Diaz aka Lav Diaz is a filmmaker from the Philippines who was born on December 30, 1958 and raised in Cotabato, Mindanao. He works as director, writer, producer, editor, cinematographer, poet, composer, production designer and actor all at once. He is especially notable for the length of his films, some of which run for up to eleven hours. That is because his films are not governed by time but by space and nature. His films are about the social and political struggles of his motherland and through these, he has garnered the admiration of the international festival circuit. Since 1998 he has directed twelve films, and won several international awards. His 2002 film Batang West Side won Best Picture at the Singapore International Film Festival, plus awards at the Independent Film Festival of Brussels, Gawad Urian, and Cinemanila International Film Festival. He also received a Gawad Urian for his 2005 film Evolution of a Filipino Family and Special Jury Prize at the Fribourg International Film Festival in 2006 for Heremias, Book One. His film Death in the Land of Encantos, was the closing film of the Orizzonti section of the Venice Film Festival 2007, and was awarded a Golden Lion Special Mention. His 2008 eight-hour film Melancholia, a story about victims of summary executions, won the Orizzonti Grand Prize at the 65th Venice International Film Festival in 2008, and Florentina Hubaldo, CTE has received Best Film at Images Festival, Toronto and Jeonju International Film Festival in In 2010 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship and in 2011 joined the Board of Directors for Cine Foundation International. The Venice Film Festival calls him the ideological father of the New Philippine Cinema. In 2013, his latest film Norte, The End of History is presented at Un Certain regard Cannes Film Festival and considered as one of the most beautiful film seen in Cannes (Jacques Mandelbaum, Le Monde) or even quite possibly the best film there (Daniel Kasman, Mubi), a superb piece of focused narrative (Jonathan Romney, Screen) a broadened international recognition that earns him to be invited at FID Marseille to be part of the Official Competition Jury and eventually at the 2013 Locarno Film Festival as the President of the Jury. A LULLABY TO THE SORROWFUL MYSTERY - 11

13 CHARACTERS ISAGANI SIMOUN ORYANG CAESARIA ANDROGYNOUS TIKBALANG FEMALE TIKBALANG MALE TIKBALANG ALING HULE KARYO BASILIO SEBASIAN CANEO The most intelligent student during the Philippine Revolution A man looking for redemption, a man who confessed to his country, not to a god, and who died believing there s no god The wife of Andres Bonifacio, father of Philippine Revolution The most celebrated beauty during the revolution and the cause of the mass murder in Silang Half woman half horse, mythological creature Half woman half horse, mythological creature Half woman half horse, mythological creature The mother who lost her sons to the revolution and joined Oryang to search for the lost body of the Father of Philippine Revolution The sick man who joined Oryang to search for the lost body of the Father of Philippine Revolution The most persevering, studious and nationalistic student during the revolution who was obsessed with digging for gold The leader of the religious cult looking for the mythological hero, Bernardo Carpio. A LULLABY TO THE SORROWFUL MYSTERY - 13

CREW Written/Directed by Cinematography Sound Design Production Design Production Manager Costume Design Masks Design Assistant Directors Casting Producers Executive Producer Co-Producers

15 CREW Written/Directed by Cinematography Sound Design Production Design Production Manager Costume Design Masks Design Assistant Directors Casting Producers Executive Producer Co-Producers Co-Production Lav DIAZ Larry MANDA Erwin ROMULO Popo DIAZ Kristine KINTANA Jona BALLARAN Barbie CAPACIO Karenina HANIEL, Hazel ORENCIO Bianca BALBUENA, Hazel ORENCIO Bianca BALBUENA, Paul SORIANO Paul SORIANO Jeremy CHUA, Fran BORGIA POTOKOL (Singapore), AKANGA FILM ASIA (Singapore) CAST ISAGANI SIMOUN ORYANG CESARIA KARYO ALING HULE TIKBALANG MALE TIKBALANG FEMALE TIKBALANG ANDREOGYNOUS BASILIO MUSIKERO SEBASTIAN CANEO John LLOYD CRUZ Piolo PASCUAL Hazel ORENCIO Alessandra DE ROSSI Joel SARACHO Susan AFRICA Bernardo BERNARDO Cherie GIL Angel AQUINO Sid LUCERO Ely BUENDIA Ronnie LAZARO A LULLABY TO THE SORROWFUL MYSTERY - 15

16 A LULLABY TO THE SORROWFUL MYSTERY A FILM BY LAV DIAZ

A film by Lav Diaz THE WOMAN WHO LEFT (Ang Babaeng Humayo)

A film by Lav Diaz THE WOMAN WHO LEFT (Ang Babaeng Humayo) 2016 226m Filipino with English subtitles B&W DCP A Kino Lorber release Winner Golden Lion La Biennale di Venezia 2016 Publicity Contact: Rodrigo