“The Woman who Left” by Lav Diaz

Director’s note

What is it that defines us as human beings?
The inspiration for the film came from a short story written by Leo Tolstoy, “God Sees the Truth, But Waits”. I had read the story quite a long time ago, I only remember the central idea, I have forgotten about the story and the characters’ names. I do remember, nevertheless, that the thing that made the biggest impression on me when I read it was that none of us really understands what life is all about. We really don’t know. This is perhaps one of the most fundamental truths of our existence. Perhaps some of us can at least sense a coherence, the feeling that all the things that we do have a continuity. And most often we endure and succumb to the randomness of life.

Lav Diaz

Filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, editor, cinematographer, composer, actor, and poet, Lav Diaz is an emblematic figure not only of Filipino cinema, but of the global film scene today. Born in 1958, he has directed 12 feature films from 1998 until today, having won the most important awards at the world’s greatest festivals. In 2016 only, he won both the Silver Bear at Berlin International Film Festival with the film “A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery” and the Golden Lion at Venice International Film Festival with the film “A Woman who Left”. His films, grandiose in their intentions and very often of epic duration, refer to the human condition with a point of departure in the socio-political or historical circumstances of his country, but are exalted to the sphere of a cinema that speaks a fascinating cinematic, ideological and emotional language.

The Onassis Stegi collaborates with Flix.gr, a website focusing on cinema.

Since December 2016 and every month until May 2017, cinema aficionados meet at the Onassis Stegi for a series of screenings which promise surprises, introduce auteurs and make the tour of the world, proposing images that we want to see on the big screen.
Among these, one can find selections from the global cinematic map, premieres of beloved Greek films, tributes to unexplored areas of contemporary cinema, the small screen currently challenging the big one, classic masterpieces like we’ve never seen them before, creators that have not been forgotten by time, screenings for children which will be taken over by grown-ups.
The rendezvous, however, will expand outside the movie theater: live performances, cinema courses, exhibitions, concerts and open discussions with the audience will accompany each screening, offering a well-rounded cinematic experience and a different way of looking at cinema.