LOS ANGELES, USA – Lav Diaz’s Magellan (Magalhaes), starring Gael Garcia Bernal as the titular Portuguese explorer, will debut in the Cannes Premiere section of the 78th Cannes Film Festival in May.
Magellan, written and directed by Lav and shot in the Philippines, Portugal, and Spain, is the Filipino auteur’s third film in the world’s most prestigious film festival. Lav’s The Halt (Ang Hupa) screened in the Directors’ Fortnight in 2019, while Norte, the End of History (Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan) in the Un Certain Regard section in 2013.
Cannes Premiere was created by the film festival in the South of France to give a place in the official selection for films that would have screened in competition, but could not be included due to the limited number of slots.
The inclusion of Magellan was announced Wednesday, April 23 (Thursday, April 24, Manila time) by the Cannes Film Festival as part of its additions to the official selections announced last April 10.
The internationally acclaimed filmmaker, whose many awards include the 2016 Golden Lion (Best Film) for The Woman Who Left (Ang Babaeng Humayo), rushed to edit Magellan into almost three hours for Cannes.
The film’s working title was Beatrice, the Wife to Magellan. But the Cannes version shifted the focus from the explorer’s wife, Maria Caldera Beatriz Barbosa, to the noted navigator himself, whose full name was Ferdinand Magellan. Lav plans to release his director’s cut later.
Lav informed Rappler about his Magellan project last year, but the Maguindanao, Mindanao native requested that the international production not be announced while he was filming Gael in Quezon province. The production managed to keep Gael’s presence in the Philippines low-key.
The cast of the film, produced by Black Cap Pictures, Rosa Filmes, and Andergraun Films, includes Dario Yazbek as Duarte, Angela Ramos (Beatriz), Amado Arjay Babon (Enrique), Ronnie Lazaro (Raja Humabon), Bong Cabrera (Raja Kulambo), and Hazel Orencio (Juana).
Amado played Setong in Lav’s Phantosmia, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival last year.
Hazel, who also served as the movie’s production manager in the Philippines, said in a message, “Amado’s role is really big. He shot scenes in Europe and the Philippines. It was an overwhelming experience for him acting alongside Gael. He’s a theater actor.”
As if he’s not busy enough, Lav is acting, yes, acting alongside Lovi Poe, Timothy Granaderos, and Enchong Dee in Prime Cruz’s The Sacrifice.
Lav answered Rappler’s questions for this piece after coming from the filming of the movie, produced by Lovi and her husband, Monty Blencowe, in Mount Makiling, Laguna.
The 66-year-old auteur quipped, “Umaarte para may pangkain (I’m acting so I could buy food).”
The following are excerpts from Rappler’s email interview:
Can you talk about Magellan being your third film at the Cannes Film Festival?
I did seven years of earnest research on this project. Seven or eight years ago, Albert Serra curated a retrospective of my works in a museum in Barcelona. He told me that he can help me get funding for my films if I have material that would connect the Philippines and Spain.
This coincided with Joaquim Sapinho telling me, he can help me, too, if I have a story that would connect Portugal and the Philippines. Of course, it’s Magellan.
How did Magellan evolve? Did it start with your story idea on Magellan or his wife, Beatriz? Or Andergraun Films (Spain), Rosa Filmes (Portugal) and Black Cap Pictures (Philippines) wanted a project with you and you thought of this story?
While doing research, I was well aware that there have been many works on Magellan. So, I thought of his wife, Beatriz Barbosa.
Was Gael Garcia Bernal as Magellan involved from the start of this project?
Yes, Joaquim Sapinho and Albert Serra suggested Gael and they communicated with each other. They met up in Berlin. I had a meeting with Gael in Lisbon later, and we decided to work together.
There have been several films on Magellan. How is your film different from those? Is the film told from the Malays’ perspective? What new insights about Magellan and his so-called “discovery” of the Philippines does the film offer?
I balanced it so there’s the Malay perspective. Not just the boring white man’s perspective and the more boring “dominant eye.” And while doing research, a big part of it was that I played the part of a detective, an investigator.
And a big realization was that Datu Lapulapu is a myth. Nobody saw him. There was a big question on how and why he was created (by careless historians) or how he became a big part of the Magellan saga.
In your research on Magellan and his wife Beatriz, what were some of your discoveries?
I took liberties with the Beatriz part. She was just a footnote in the written materials about Magellan; maybe two, three sentences, e.g., as the young wife of Fernando Magalhaes and the daughter of Diego Barbosa, one of the best friends of Magalhaes.
This is your first time to work with Gael. Can you talk about that, especially since this was his first time to film in the Philippines?
For a Filipino or a Malay director, I learned so much from it. It was an experience.
You and the production managed to keep Gael’s presence in the Philippines a secret. How was that challenge? How did you keep his identity a secret from the local residents?
We didn’t intend to keep it a secret. We just wanted to avoid distractions. We focused on the work.
Did you film mostly in Quezon or did you shoot in other parts of the Philippines?
We did some shooting in the southern part of Portugal, Cadiz, Spain, and Sampaloc and Mauban, in Quezon province of the Philippines.
From the Philippines, you continued shooting in Portugal and then Spain. What was that experience like for you?
It was great to observe and experience how they do production work.
Did you make a replica of Magellan’s ship? Where did you shoot the ship scenes?
We used the renovated Victoria, the ship that returned to Spain. It’s the real one. It’s stationed as a museum on the Cadiz shore. So, we used the real one.
Who are the other main characters in the film and who play them?
Gael is, of course, Fernao de Magalhaes. Amado Arjay Babon as Enrique, the Malay slave.
What is the focus of the version that you will screen in Cannes? How long is the version? What will your nine-hour version show more of?
The Cannes version is almost three hours. It’s a more balanced perspective of the story. Being a Filipino Malay, I wanted to show more of our part of the story.
You are usually the DP (director of photography) in most of your films. This time, you collaborated with Artur Tort. Who are the film’s cinematographers?
Artur Tort, I, and two more generous artists did the cinematography here.
You usually also work as the editor in your films. Are you the editor of Magellan?
I did the original edit, and Artur Tort worked on it.
You got seriously ill from pneumonia and tuberculosis after filming Magellan. Did that reminder about our mortality add to the urgency of finishing post-production work on Magellan? And did it make you reflect on this specific film’s importance in the context of your acclaimed body of work?
I almost died. Two days after finishing the first edit, I vomited blood. I was really close to drowning. Witnessing two harrowing TB (tuberculosis) deaths in my family during my youth helped me survive.
My near-fatal vomiting of blood happened three times. It was the result of eight years of work. There’s more epic poetry to it, really. Think of Odyssey.
But not Mi Ultimo Adios by Jose Rizal, not yet. Marami pang tulang lilikhain. At buong pagpapakumbaba kong natantong hindi ko pa rin naaarok ang hiwaga ng buhay.
(There’s more poetry to be written. And I’ve humbly realized that I have yet to fully understand the mysteries of life.) – Rappler.com