Lav Diaz

Lav Diaz (b. 1958, Cotabato, Philippines) is a Filipino writer-director-editor renowned for epic-length, slow-cinema narratives that probe history, trauma, and resilience. He rose to prominence with Norte, the End of History (2013, Cannes Un Certain Regard) and From What Is Before (2014, Locarno Golden Leopard). A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery (2016) earned Berlin’s Alfred Bauer Prize, while The Woman Who Left (2016) won the Venice Golden Lion. Recent works include When the Waves Are Gone (2022, Venice), The Essential Truths of the Lake (2023, Locarno), Phantosmia (2024, Venice), and Magellan (2025, Cannes). Diaz’s cinema merges meditative form with moral and historical inquiry.