LOS ANGELES, USA – Lav Diaz’s newest film, Phantosmia, was officially announced as an out-of-competition entry in the 81st Venice Film Festival to be held from August 28 to September 7.
With the announcement, Lav now has a record of eight films accepted by the world’s oldest film festival since his first entry in the festival on the Lido, Death in the Land of Encantos in 2007.
Phantosmia, which the celebrated Filipino auteur titled after the condition defined as an olfactory disorder that makes people smell things that are not there, stars Ronnie Lazaro, Janine Gutierrez, and Hazel Orencio. The cast includes Paul Jake Paule, Dong Abay, and Arjay Babon.
Lav directed, wrote, shot, edited, and did the production design of the black and white drama.
Phantosmia joins the filmmaker’s list of entries in Venice, one of the world’s most prestigious film festivals, where he has won several awards, including the top prize, Golden Lion Best Film.
These films are: Death in the Land of Encantos (Horizons Award Special Mention, 2007); Melancholia (Horizons Award Best Film, 2008); Century of Birthing (2011); The Firefly (short, 2013); The Woman Who Left (Golden Lion Best Film, 2016); Genus Pan (Horizons Award Best Director, 2020); When the Waves Are Gone (2022); and Phantosmia (2024).
The director offered this synopsis of Phantosmia, which is: “Hilarion Zabala’s (Ronnie Lazaro) mysterious olfactory problem has recurred; a counselor/psychiatrist suspects it to be a lingering case of phantosmia, a phantom smell, and possibly caused by trauma, a deep psychological fracture.”
“One recommended radical process to cure the ailment was that Hilarion must go back and deal with the darkest currents of his past life in the military service. Reassigned in the very remote Pulo Penal Colony, he must also confront the horrific realities of his present situation.”
In his director’s statement, Lav wrote, “Do human beings have the right to kill other human beings? A big part of the story of Phantosmia is about this discourse and other questions about man’s existence.”
“One of the main protagonists of the film is a retired military officer. All his life, he has done military and police services and most of those experiences were burdened by violence with institutional sanction.”
“Even his upbringing is ladened with violence because of his father’s perspective on dealing with life’s challenges – that man must be tough, mentally and physically. He remembers waking up every morning and the very first words he heard were, ‘You are a fighter!’ and ‘You are a warrior!’”
“And the very first exercises would be about how to use a gun and how to fight. Thus, he became a true fighter and a warrior by his own reckoning but a very violent one and he believed then that violence was part of his duty and it is a natural attribute of the military and police institutions.”
“This conditioning has profoundly spawned fascist, authoritarian, feudal, and barbaric setups.”
In an email interview, Lav explained how he learned about phantosmia and how it triggered his idea for a film. “Years ago, in the early 1980s, one of my relatives was confined at the V. Luna General Hospital. My relative got in through the kindness of a soldier friend.”
“On the weeks that I was there, I learned about the many cases of soldiers who were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or ‘war shock’ in colloquial Pinoy.”
“In most cases, the cause of trauma was combat duty. The Moro secessionist movement in Mindanao by then had gained so much traction and the New People’s Army was at its strongest. The battles and encounters involving these groups and military personnel were always bloody.”
“I did my research. I was able to talk to some counselors, doctors, and psychiatrists in the hospital and I realized that PTSD was such a big problem. Phantosmia is just one of the effects of PTSD.”
While Phantosmia, which has a reported running time of four hours and ten minutes, stars Lav regulars Ronnie Lazaro and Hazel Orencio, the film marks only the second time that he cast Janine Gutierrez.
“This is my second film with her,” said the Maguindanao, Mindanao-born director of the actress who plays a character named Reyna. “We shot a film before Phantosmia and it’s in post now. I believe we’ll finish it late next year.”
“I first saw her in the film, Babae at Baril (The Woman and the Gun), and she’s great there. Hazel Orencio and Janine worked together in a television series so we invited her and she gladly joined us.”
“The Reyna role is really for her, even with her biological and physical attributes alone, the classic Pinoy tisay (mestiza). During the (filming) process, there’s not much talking with her really, as I can easily see how intelligent, open, and intuitive she is.”
“I am more into giving space and freedom to actors like her. And she’s truly great. She worked hard, fully committing and embracing our proletarian and organic process.”
Janine, also interviewed via email, gushed at her opportunity to work with the filmmaker whose many awards include honors from other festivals: “It has been such a great experience and I’m just so honored to be able to work with the Lav Team, as we call it.”
“With Direk Lav, I just say yes to any project and then learn about the character and story as the shooting progresses. It’s such an exciting, rewarding process. It’s a very intimate set and everything feels very personal.”
The actress, who belongs to a showbiz family (parents are Lotlot de Leon and Ramon Christopher; paternal grandparents are Pilita Corrales and Eddie Gutierrez; adoptive maternal grandparents are Nora Aunor and Christopher de Leon), shared:
“The thing that surprised me most about working with Direk Lav is that he’s really funny. The shoots are very light and happy and it’s really like a family setup.”
“I loved playing Reyna. And it was also a very challenging role for me because she lives with so much trauma. But it’s such a beautiful role and story and I’m so grateful.”
On casting Ronnie and Hazel in his films, Lav explained, “Ronnie and Hazel are my long-time friends. We’ve worked on so many projects already. They know and understand my way of doing cinema.”
“And at least, by my reckoning, I know them already. They earnestly know that it’s more about rock ‘n’ roll, poetry, philosophy, and anthropology than candy or money when they’re with me. We give more premium to responsibility for culture and humanity when we work together.”
Hazel, perhaps the actor who has appeared in most of Lav’s oeuvre and also served in various production capacities, remarked in an email: “I am of course, grateful. I look at it as cultural responsibility more than a job, to be able to help Lav give life to his work through my acting and my production work.”
Ronnie echoed Hazel’s sentiment about being a Lav regular, also via email: “Yes, I am honored. I respect Lav and I am proud of what he has done for the country and to the Philippine film industry. I am very lucky and glad that Lav likes to collaborate with me oftentimes.”
Hazel said about the olfactory hallucinations that inspired the Venice-bound drama: “I had no idea about phantosmia and that is one of the reasons why I love working with Lav.”
“We learn a lot from him. New words, new places and locations, a lot. I’ve realized that phantosmia is a national condition, an olfactory problem of a nation who can’t smell what is right or wrong anymore.”
“This was my first time encountering the word phantosmia,” Ronnie pointed out. “I would soon find out as we started to follow the journey of this character I’m playing who is suffering from this condition. His name is Hilarion Zabala. Master Sergeant Hilarion Zabala.”
“Lav is telling us a story about what he saw and experienced growing up during the war in Mindanao, witnessing the violence, atrocity, deaths, and the insanity of the war that went on for so many years.”
“I was a young man then growing up on Negros Island in the Visayas during those times. Daily headlines and radio commentaries of the war were sickening. Many died, families disconnected, and villages abandoned. They were times of uncertainty.”
“I was fearful of the war spilling over to my island because I felt it would not end soon. With this background, somehow I felt I was ready to take on my character, Master Sergeant Hilarion Zabala.”
Despite the weighty subject matter of Lav’s films, Ronnie and Hazel cited the lightheartedness of his sets, as Janine also shared.
Ronnie said, “I always enjoy what I do and working with Lav is always exciting. He keeps you guessing what will happen next when you start the shoot for that day. I keep an open mind and heart – that way, it gives me plenty of room for creativity.”
“Our set is simple, no tension. The minimal crew and staff are cool to work with. And the rest, as Lav would often finish after instructions and directions, is ‘Rock ‘n’ roll, ’tol (brother)!’ ”
Hazel agreed, saying, “Our actors and crew call our shoots ‘pahinga’ (rest) and it really is such. It doesn’t feel like shoots. We don’t adhere to the standard 12 to 18 hours shoot a day.”
“Believe it or not, we only shoot 4 to 7 hours a day. No pressure, no shouting. We’re all super chill as we go along with Lav’s organic process of shooting.”
And now, Lav and his cast are heading to Italy for Phantosmia’s premiere at the Palazzo del Cinema. Janine recalled how she learned the happy news:
“I was at home with my sister when I found out that the film will premiere in Venice. Ate Hazel had told me that we got into a festival but it was a few weeks until she could confirm to me which festival.”
“She then shared the letter from Venice and I was jumping and so happy. It has always been my goal to attend the Venice Film Festival and to be able to do it with Direk Lav and the team is such a dream come true.”
“No, I don’t have a gown yet!” Janine answered when I told her that Lav, in his trademark folksy language, said to me that she had gone to a “sastre” (tailor) to have her red carpet dress made.
Janine added, “I look forward to seeing our film for the first time. And to be there with the team and represent the Philippines through our film and of course, hopefully be able to see the other films being presented as well as the actors I look up to!”
“I’ve also never been to Venice so to go there for the first time for this is such a dream.”
Hazel, for her part, said, “As always, I look forward to meeting festival friends and watching other films. And riding the water taxi once more!”
“Oh, Venice!” Ronnie exclaimed. “Maybe ride the gondola? Simple. Just get there and go with the flow. Life is full of surprises and I don’t want to spoil it with expectations.”
But for Lav, I guessed what he, ever the lyrical artist, is looking forward to on his nth trip to Lido:
“I have some kind of a secret garden on the island of Lido, where the festival is being held every year. I love going on endless walks there.”
“And in an obscure trail, on a desolate road, near some muddy water, I discovered wild blueberries, an aesthetically more generous sphere than…yes, cinema. More than the films in the festival, I am more interested in doing a pilgrimage to my wild blueberry realm in Venice.”
“The berries give me bliss and quiet and great nourishment to the soul. It’s very spiritual and punk.”
And very Lav Diaz. – Rappler.com
