synopsis
The Philippines is the most storm-exposed country on Earth. However, no storm was as strong as Typhoon Haiyan back in 2013, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda. The storm generated waves up to 15 meters high that destroyed the port city of Tacloban and extended a kilometer inland. A few months after the natural disaster, Diaz films the lives of children in Tacloban who lost their families to the storm and are struggling to survive in their new post-apocalyptic reality. The film’s impressive, documentary imagery is reminiscent of Diaz's live-action, epic dramas. In a series of slow, hypnotic shots, he manages to convey feelings of tenacity and perseverance in this fight for survival. Set against the backdrop of photogenic, doom-like images, the question arises as to what awaits a generation that was forced to grow up too fast.
biography
Lav Diaz (* 1958) is a key figure of the slow cinema genre. Having been educated as an economist and poet, Diaz has been an active filmmaker since the 1990s. His films abound with characteristic, visual poetry that works with long, slow shots and long footage. His 9-hour-long film,
Melancholia (2008), earned him the Horizons Prize for Best Picture at the 65th Annual Venice International Film Festival. In 2014, he won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival for his 5-hour film,
From What Is Before.
more about film
Info
| director: | Lav Diaz |
| original title: | Mga anak ng unos |
| country: | Philippines |
| year: | 2014 |
| running time: | 143 min. |
