Lav Diaz Talks ‘Psycho’ Duterte, Marcos and Upcoming ‘Essential Truths of the Lake:’ ‘I Am Aware of the Danger’

variety.com:

Marta Balaga Lav Diaz is “concerned” about the situation in his native Philippines. But it doesn’t mean he will stop making films. “If you do any kind of cultural work, you can be branded as a ‘communist’ and it’s a reason for them to kill you,” he says.  “There aren’t many venues to show my films, so we basically give them away for free.

Listen, I am aware of the danger. But you have to accept the reality, confront these issues and continue to make things. And be careful, because we know what happened to Salman Rushdie.” Diaz, speaking to Variety at Armenia’s Golden Apricot festival, where he headed the jury, also opened up about his upcoming Locarno world premiere “Essential Truths of the Lake.” The film, which contends in main competition for the Golden Leopard, sees him returning to investigator Hermes Papauran from “When the Waves Are Gone,” played by John Lloyd Cruz – starring alongside Hazel Orencio, Shaina Magdayao, Bart Guingona and Agot Isidro – haunted by an unsolved case of a woman who disappeared years ago. “Rape, molestation, this whole macho culture… It’s everywhere and I have seen it since I was a child, and yet it’s not being addressed.

So many women don’t want to talk because these guys are powerful or well-known, but it’s time to name these names,” he adds.  “Papauran still hopes there is justice and truth in the world.

As humans, we can be very desolate about what is happening, but we can also do something. I wanted to show that.” Ready to play with the genre – “There are expectations that come with this kind of ‘cold case’ story, but there is still a lot to explore.