Locarno, Venice Winner Lav Diaz’s ‘When the Waves Are Gone’ Raises Budgetary Bar for Filipino Auteur

Halted by Covid-19, and now part of Locarno’s The Films After Tomorrow competition, Lav Diaz’s “When the Waves Are Gone” looks set to mark the first time the Filipino auteur will enjoy the upsides of full-force international co-production.That co-production involve, moreover, some of highest-profile art film producers currently working in Europe.Winner of Locarno Golden Leopard (2014’s “From What Is Before”) and a Venice Golden Lion (2016’s “The Woman Who Left”), Díaz movies have been set apart not only by their extraordinary lengths – 2016’s “A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery” clocked in at just over six hours – but also their lack of resources.“It’s understood that Diaz’s low-budget techniques involve a certain suspension of belief: thus, we accept that a powerful dictator only seems to have a staff of two,” critic Jonathan Romney wrote of last year’s “The Halt,” a low-fi sci-fi drama set in a 2034 dystopia. ...

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