Filipino auteur Lav Diaz received the Golden Lion prize at the Venice International Film Festival for The Woman Who Left (Ang Babaeng Humayo). He bested Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals, the designer’s follow-up to his 2009 film A Single Man.
The Woman Who Left follows a schoolteacher trying to lead a normal life after spending 30 years in prison for a murder she didn’t commit while plotting the murder of the man who framed her. (Heavy stuff, I know) The film runs for a good 228 minutes and is the 19th film of the 57-year-old director.
Charo Santos-Concio plays the lead role of Horacia Somorostro, while John-Lloyd Cruz, Nonie Buencamino, and Michael De Mesa are just some of the actors who complete the cast. Variety gives praises to the film calling it a “refreshingly contained moral study.”
This is Lav Diaz’s second big win this year as his magnum opus to the 1898 Philippine Revolution, Lullaby to Sorrowful Mystery (Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapis) won the Alfred Bauer Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Congratulations, Lav!
Photo courtesy of Ang Babaeng Humayo official Facebook page
