alr

Heremias (Book One: The Legend of the Lizard Princess)
(Unang aklat: Ang alamat ng prinsesang bayawak)

Directed by Lav Diaz.
With Ronnie Lazaro, Cid Lucero, Dante Balaois.
Philippines, 2006, digital video, black & white, 540 min.
Filipino and Tagalog with English subtitles.
Copy source: Austrian Film Museum

Heremias is a wandering peddler whose fateful decision to separate from his fellow salesmen leads him to an abandoned house deep in the jungle and entanglement with the criminals and venal authorities of the nearby village. The protagonist’s name is derived from Jeremiah, the Biblical prophet who declaimed the corruption in Jerusalem in a vain attempt to prevent its destruction. The modern-day decadence that Heremias confronts is as vividly depicted as his attempt to right the wrongs he can and to atone for the rest. One of the most meditative of Diaz’s epics, the ever-lucid black-and-white cinematography serves to highlight the quasi-parable aspect of Heremias’ simple but sad story.

Part of film series

Read more

Life in Real Time
The Cinema of Lav Diaz

Current and upcoming film series

Read more

The Reincarnations of Delphine Seyrig

Read more

Rosine Mbakam, 2025 McMillan-Stewart Fellow