Magellan – Q&A Screening with Lav Diaz

In the early 16th century, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan bids his wife, Beatriz, farewell and sets sail for the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, taking a western route around the bottom of South America, rather than east around the coast of South Africa – a journey that had never been completed before. After an arduous, years-long voyage, plagued by hunger, storms, exhaustion and mutinies, the crew finally reaches the Philippines. There, Magellan becomes obsessed with conquest and converting the indigenous population to Christianity, but he’s unprepared for the violent defiance that follows.

Led by a powerfully restrained performance by Gael García Bernal as Magellan, this resplendent historical drama by Filipino auteur Lav Diaz interrogates the mythmaking around European colonial explorer narratives. Magellan’s wife, Beatriz, and his Malaysian slave, Enrique, provide counterpoint perspectives that enrich the story with emotional heft. Haunting and poetic, yet uncompromising in its commitment to depicting colonialism’s destructive impact, Magellan is a grand, sweeping portrayal of a decade in the famed explorer’s life, his hubris and tragic downfall.

Join us for this one-off special screening followed by a Q&A with director Lav Diaz, moderated by Jason Di Rosso. Only on Wednesday 22 April at 7pm.

LAV DIAZ
Auteur, Director

Lav Diaz is a Filipino filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, and editor, born in the Philippines in 1958. Renowned for his epic-length feature films—often exceeding five hours—he explores themes tied to the Philippines’ political and social history, collective trauma, the struggle for justice, and human resilience.

Magellan marks his return to the Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival for the first time since Norte, the End of History in 2013.