‘Ang Babaeng Humayo’ wins Golden Lion at 73rd Venice Film Festival

‘Ang Babaeng Humayo,’ the indie film directed and written by Director Lav Diaz,  wins the Golden Lion for Best Picture at the 73^rd Venice Film Festival in Italy. The film also won Best Foreign Language Film at the Sorriso Diverso Venezia 2016 Awards and has currently been added to the list of nominees in the 60^th British Film Institute London Festival in the United Kingdom.

In the Venice Film Review on “The Woman who Left,” Variety states that this “latest supersized opus from Filipino maximalist Lav Diaz is a powerful and, by his standards, refreshingly contained moral study.” Upon accepting his award, Lav Diaz said that he dedicates the film to the Filipino people and their struggle, as well as to humanity’s struggle.

The black and white revenge tale that stars Ms. Charo Santos-Concio and John Lloyd Cruz is highly anticipated and there are five reasons why we think this is so.

1.Film Direction by acclaimed Director Lav Diaz

“One of the higher functions of great cinema, and the inherent role of art, is to help redeem humanity,” Lav Diaz believes.

With this perspective, it is no doubt that his creative mind is highly acclaimed. Since his 2013 win in the Cannes Film Festival for “Norte, the End of History,” he has had a string of award nominations making him internationally recognized.

Lav is a Filipino independent film maker known to be one of the key members of the slow cinema movement – a genre of art cinema film-making called “contemplative cinema” emphasizing on long takes. It is minimalist, observational, and with little or no narrative.

Check more on his bio and filmography here.

WATCH: Venice Film Festival Jury President Sam Mendes, Jury members and Director Lav Diaz on Golden Lion interview via Associated Press YouTube channel

2.Award Winning Screenplay

The film was inspired by the 1872 short story by Russian author Leo Tolstoy entitled, “God Sees Sees the Truth, But Waits.”

According to the Inquirer, Humayo is a “slow-burn melodrama” making it deserving of the Golden Lion. The story revolves around the life of a schoolteacher, Horacia, who was released from prison after three decades for a crime she did not commit. In her so-called freedom she finds out that her loved ones are gone and that her ex-boyfriend who framed her is now wealthy as an underworld boss. In her rage, she plots revenge.

Kate Taylor, a respected film critic, adds that it is “a luminous film that explores the emotional burden borne by disenfranchised Filipinos who live in the shadow of colonialism.”

3. Filipino Produced

Humayo is produced by Philippine film production companies Cinema One Originals and Sine Olivia Pilipinas. Sine Olivia Pilipinas is an independent film production company in the Philippines since 2004 founded by Lav Diaz. Cinema One Originals, on the other hand, is connected with the Cinema One Originals Film Festival that showcases the talents and and diverse voices of the Filipino independent film.

4. Ms. Charo Santos – Concio Marks Movie Comeback

After about two decades, Ms. Charo Santos-Concio returns to the screen as Horacia in Humayo and she feels grateful about it.

She expresses that as people watch the film and see the journey of Horacia, they would realize and learn to forgive. Forgiving will be the most difficult thing one can do but it can also be the most liberating.

In an interview with Reuters, she shares that her only motivation in taking the role is that she wanted to work with the director. She adds that she has so much belief and faith in the immense talent of Director Lav Diaz.

WATCH: Ms. Charo Santos-Concio talk about The Woman Who Left” to Reuters here

5. John Lloyd Cruz stars as Hollanda

John Lloyd Cruz, a multi award-winning Filipino actor, plays the role of Hollanda who, in the film, has already given up on life. In an interview with ABS-CBN he talks more on Hollanda saying, “Wala na siyang mahanap na dahilan para ituloy pa ‘yung buhay niya. It’s a bit dark pero punong-puno ‘yung pagkatao niya.”

Aside from Cruz, the film also features beloved Filipino actors Michael de Mesa, Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino, Nonie Buencamino, Marj Lorico, Mayen Estanero, Romelyn Sale, Lao Rodriguez, Jean Judith Javier, Mae Paner and Cacai Bautista.

“Ang Babaeng Humayo” (The Woman Who Left) opens in local cinemas starting September 28.

WATCH: Official Trailer and Making of “Ang Babaeng Humayo” via verified ABS-CBN Star Cinema Youtube channel