Make-Up: Syrel Lopez

Assistant Director: Hazel Orencio

A remote village in the Philippine jungle is terrorised by the militia. The inhabitants are tortured arbitrarily and disappear without a trace. The destruction of the physical and psychic integrity of the whole community has hardly conceivable consequences.

The paramilitaries are presented almost as personified demons. Their unbound brutality tries to depict not just the reality under dictator Ferdinand Marcos, but they also explicitly want to be understood as an allegory to the once again escalating violence under current ruler Rodrigo Duterte. In poetic black and white images and recited in constant acapella vocals, the film seeks its very own language to articulate pain that is impossible to put into words.

Once more, Lav Diaz takes on the trauma of his country in this mix of historical drama and musical, which he has affectionately and capriciously labelled a “rock opera”.