Magellan is a historical drama by Filipino master Lav Diaz that reenacts the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan, who set out on a voyage to circumnavigate the globe, in a manner that is as raw as possible. Burning with ambition, Portuguese navigator Magellan embarks on his voyage with the support of the Spanish king. In 1521, when he arrives in Cebu in The Philippines, the naive indigenous people welcome the white-skinned strangers as mysterious figures. However, they are soon brutally massacred by the conquerors with their superior weapons. Director Lav Diaz focuses on the lingering effects of violence rather than the thrill of battle, gradually revealing the corrupted humanity through the characters′ dry dialogue. He goes beyond simply reenacting history, using his passionate imagination to reflect on the history of repeated violence, and reveals an ethical perspective that urges us not to repeat the mistakes of the past.
Born in Mindanao, Philippines, in 1958, Lav Diaz primarily explores the nation’s social and political struggles. He has earned major accolades at leading film festivals, including the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival for From What Is Before (2014), the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for The Woman Who Left (2016), and the Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival for A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery (2016). His other directorial works include Melancholia (2008), Prologue to the Great Desaparecido (2013), When the Waves Are Gone (2022), Essential Truths of the Lake (2023), Phantosmia (2024), and Magellan (2025).
From Busan International Film Festival 2025, No. 30
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