Celebrated Philippines filmmaker Lav Diaz‘s examination of the human situation continues with “Kawalan.”

The work-in-progress has been chosen for the twenty second Hong Kong — Asia Movie Financing Discussion board (HAF), the undertaking market that operates concurrently with FilMart.

Within the movie, Tomas, the previous venerable mayor of the distant city of Kawalan, learns that the invading Japanese will arrange a garrison there. He organizes keen members in his group to arrange a hidden settlement in the course of the forest, the place they will reside unaffected by the horrors of warfare. As a younger revolutionary in the course of the 1896 struggle towards Spain after which as a soldier preventing towards the Individuals, Tomas had witnessed the results of violence on folks and turn out to be a pacifist. Now, he should see if inhabitants of the hidden settlement can escape the sufferings wrought by the warfare.

The auteur’s work, which has received awards at Berlin, Venice and Locarno, amongst many different prestigious festivals, continuously examines the present social and political state of the Philippines and, by extension, the world.

“Most of my works now are responses to the zeitgeist, to what’s taking place on the planet in the intervening time. ‘Kawalan’ is a confrontation to the human being that has turn out to be a [prideful], empty and apathetic creature proper now,” Diaz advised Selection. The overarching message of “Kawalan” is “that we’ve misplaced it. That humanity miserably failed,” Diaz mentioned.

Who’s he making an attempt to succeed in with “Kawalan?” “Effectively, after all, us, the hubris that’s humanity,” Diaz mentioned. “Allow us to take a more in-depth take a look at ourselves, at our souls, please. We will’t simply let the human being burn.”

The movie is produced by Hazel Orencio, who can also be an actor and is a frequent collaborator of Diaz. “We hope to get and safe funding so we might be able to proceed with the post-production of the movie,” Orencio mentioned about her plans for Hong Kong. “As with different movies of Lav, we plan to submit it to the A-list movie festivals as quickly as we’re executed with the submit.”

On his future plans, Diaz mentioned, “I’m engaged on a brand new movie that’s nonetheless very a lot a critique on what is occurring on the planet proper now.”