Lav Diaz’s Venice Title ‘Let Us Through, Dear Ancestors’ Boarded By Heretic For Sales
Greek sales agent Heretic has boarded international sales for "Let Us Through, Dear Ancestors" (Makikiraan Po), the latest film from acclaimed Filipino director Lav Diaz, which is premiering Out of Competition at the Venice Film Festival. The deal marks Heretic's first collaboration with Diaz, whose distinctive, uncompromising style has made him a festival favourite, and continues his long-running creative partnership with Filipino production house Epicmedia.
The film examines Spain's colonial rule over the Philippines, focusing on the brutality inflicted by Spanish friar Padre Enciso on the local population in the 17th century, including sexual violence, exploitation and forced religious conversion, as well as the deaths of thousands of natives during the construction of colonial-era churches. At 2 hours 31 minutes, it is comparatively short for Diaz, who is known for extremely long-form filmmaking. It is produced by Bianca Balbuena and Montgomery Blencowe, with Bradley Liew, Lovi Poe and Louis Wei as executive producers, and follows Diaz's earlier historical drama "Magellan," which starred Gael García Bernal and premiered at Cannes last year.
In short
- Heretic acquires sales rights to Lav Diaz's new Venice film
- Film explores Spanish colonial violence in the Philippines
- Marks Heretic and Diaz's first collaboration, via Epicmedia
Explained simply
Spain ruled the Philippines as a colony for more than three centuries, beginning in the 16th century. Catholic missionaries were part of colonial rule, which brought forced religious conversion and other forms of coercion to local communities.
Lav Diaz is a Filipino filmmaker known for long, formally distinctive films, often shown at international festivals. His latest film returns to the colonial period and follows his earlier historical drama Magellan; Epicmedia is a Filipino production company with which he has worked repeatedly.
Heretic is a Greek company that sells films to distributors in different countries. Its involvement connects Diaz’s new film with the international market, while the story’s focus on colonial violence engages with a formative period in Philippine history.
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