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

Lav Diaz‘s latest mastodontic film, presented in competition at the 66th Berlinale, is the 8 hours long A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery. The film retraces the events of the Philippine Revolution (1896-97) by evoking mythology to better communicate with the Filipino society and the international audience in the hope for change.

A LULLABY TO THE SORROWFUL MYSTERY: Interconnected narrative threads on the Philippine Revolution of 1896-1897 against Spain characterize Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapins – 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 Revoution 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.