PODCAST| Chiara Nicoletti interviews Lav Diaz, director of the film Season Of The Devil.

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture

There’s no international film festival without Lav Diaz, the prolific Filipino director who already won a Golden Lion at the 2017 edition of the Venice Film Festival. After presenting Lullaby to the sorrowful mystery at the Berlinale last year, Diaz is back on FRED and at the Festival to present, in competition, his latest film Season Of The Devil, a musical, a rock opera inspired by real events and real people set in the darkest period of Philippine history, the 70’s. Lav Diaz reminds us that every period or historical film is a metaphor to describe the present we’re living in Europe and in the world. The devil of the title or the devils in general are the demagogues who rule so many countries now, like the new government in the Philippines. The director also reveals that he chose to direct a musical because of his first love, music. Lav Diaz was indeed a musician and singer during high school.

Season Of The Devil:  In the late 70s, a military-controlled militia gang terrorizes a remote village in the Philippines. The terror inflicted on citizens is not just corporal, but intensely psychological as well. They are constantly fed apocryphal tales about the village leader. A few souls fight, refusing to give up. Poet, teacher and activist Hugo Haniway desperately searches for the truth about his wife’s disappearance… In award-winning director Lav Diaz’s new film, the narrative and characters are a composite of real events and people from the period. It’s a love story set in the darkest period of Philippine history, the Marcos Dictatorship. Season Of The Devil is a Filipino rock opera with music and lyrics by Lav Diaz.

To discover more about the film, click here.