PODCAST: FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti interviews Bernardo Bernardo, Cherie Gil and Angel Aquino, actors of the film A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery (Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapis) by Lav Diaz, in competition at the 66th Berlinale.

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

In A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery (Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapis) by Lav Diaz, Bernardo Bernardo, Cherie Gil and Angel Aquino all impersonate the same character, in different forms – respectively, the male Tikbalang, the female Tikbalang and the androgynous one. The Tikbalang is a mythological figure in Filipino tradition. The three actors were honored to work with Lav Diaz and the experience on set felt like a big party, with this great energy surrounding them. They declare to be “in love with Lav!”

Click here to listen to our interview with Lav Diaz, director of the film A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery – FRED English channel

LULLABY TO THE SORROWFUL MYSTERY: Interconnected narrative threads on the Philippine Revolution of 1896-1897 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.