CANNES 2025 MADE AN UPDATE on its Official Selection with sixteen new titles to make premiere, including Lav Diaz’s much-anticipated film about explorer Ferdinand Magellan, simply titled Magellan. Magellan’s quest would lead to the first successful circumnavigation of the earth in the 16th Century and a violent end in a gruesome clash in Cebu against the Filipino datu, Lapu-Lapu.
The film — which has two versions: one that’s his usual “slow cinema” length runtime at 9 hours, and another at a measly 3-hour runtime — will feature Mexican actor Gael García Bernal, most known for Y Tu Mamá También. Diaz noted in a recent masterclass that the shorter cut will likely be the one that’s screened at Cannes 2025.
The longer (and maybe more interesting) version is told from the perspective of Beatriz Barbosa de Magallanes, Magellan’s wife. The project, in fact, was originally titled Beatriz, The Wife. No word yet if eager fans will get to see this cut.
Both cuts, Diaz notes, are “about death.”
No stranger to Cannes, Diaz, who’s considered a godfather of slow cinema, has made films as long as almost 11 hours with 2004’s Ebolusyon ng Pamilyang Pilipino. His 2016 film, Ang Babaeng Humayo, won the Golden Lion.
The 2025 Cannes Film Festival happens from May 13th thru 24th in France.
