Overview

• Lav Diaz's 'Magellan,' starring Gael García Bernal, premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival to critical acclaim for its revisionist take on Ferdinand Magellan's legacy.
• The film portrays Magellan as a dogmatic colonialist, deconstructing his mythologized image as a heroic explorer.
• Diaz challenges traditional Philippine history by suggesting that Lapulapu, a celebrated resistance figure, may have been a fictional construct of indigenous politics.
• Currently seeking U.S. distribution, the film is presented in a relatively concise 160-minute cut, with Diaz hinting at the future release of a nine-hour version.
• Known for his contemplative slow cinema, Diaz uses this epic to examine colonial violence, indigenous agency, and historical memory through a minimalist and immersive lens.