Lav Diaz film starring John Lloyd Cruz wins in India

Two days before his latest film, Kapag Wala Nang Mga Alon (When the Waves Are Gone), held its second Philippine screening on 26 November, Lav Diaz had to fly to Goa to attend the 53rd International Film Festival of India — where the same film was in competition.

The good news is that Diaz is flying back to Manila in high spirits, since Alon has been awarded a Special Jury Prize, the Silver Peacock, and cash worth "almost P1 million," said a source.

In an article posted on the website of the Press Information Bureau of the Government of India, Diaz recalled the circumstances behind the making of Alon — a dark, protracted tale of revenge and crushing cycles of violence starring John Lloyd Cruz as top agent Police Lt. Hermes Papauran, a first-hand witness to a bloody anti-drug campaign.

"Tracking the genesis of the movie, Diaz said that When the Waves Are Gone started as a gangster movie seven years ago. 'Failure to find actors and budget led to delay.' He added that he pushed the film to the producers in another way three years ago, as a kind of reaction to the human rights violations happening in Philippines in the name of war on drugs."

"Most of the reviews of When the Waves Are Gone described the film as a loose adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo. But Lav Diaz made it clear that he didn't think of The Count of Monte Cristo while making the film, though he drew literary influences from the works of Russian authors like Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky."

On his reputation as a "Filipino master of slow cinema," Diaz said "he wants his viewers to be part of the cinematic universe."

"People who are into my cinema negate the divide between screen and viewer. They are part of the cinema. Immersive process is completed with the long shots and the long duration."

"Diaz criticized the approach of Hollywood films where everything is subordinated to the lead actor. 'Those films follow the movement of the lead actor till the end. You don't see life. In my films, you will notice trees, birds, people walking and life in all its manifestations."

"Though cinema as a medium is sometimes too late in chronicling life events and truth, Diaz still exuded confidence in the power of cinema to bring about change. The director also expressed his love for Indian films by Mani Kaul, Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak."