“Ebolusyon” wins .MOV grand prize

Lav Diaz's monumental work “Ebolusyon ng Isang Pamilyang Pilipino” bested eight other entries to win the Best Digital Feature award at the 2nd .MOV International Digital Film Festival. The festival ran from March 2 to 8 at SM City Cebu.

“Ebolusyon,” considered the longest feature in Southeast Asian cinema history to date, was adjudged winner over “The Beautiful Washing Machine”
(Malaysia), “The Birth of Seanema” (Thailand), “Camiling” (Philippines), “Diliman” (Philippines),“Gravel Road” (Malaysia), “Sanctuary” (Malaysia),
“Swing My Swing High, My Darling” (Malaysia), and “Yasujiro's Journey” (Indonesia).

Malaysian cultural critic Dr. Khoo Gaik Cheng, chair of the main jury, commended Diaz for his “highly ambitious work” in “Ebolusyon,” a close-to-11-hour film following the life of a peasant family through the turbulent decades of Philippine history.

Khoo, a postdoctoral fellow at the Asia Research Institute in Singapore who is currently doing her research on the independent filmmaking movement in Malaysia , believes that the film wants to convey to its viewers that “there is no easy fix or quick solution to the Filipinos' national condition.”

The fate of the poor Gallardo family intersects with history in Diaz's epic examination of life in the Philippines under the martial law regime. Shot in
black and white over an eight-year period, the film probes the wounds of the Filipino psyche.

“There is always a constant struggle to survive no matter what or how bad things are,” Khoo explained after watching the entire film. She cited the radio drama “Hope Awaits Everyone” which the Gallardo family usually listens to at home. From this, she inferred that the film wants to instill “hope in the younger generation, a different kind of hope from the kind we
expect from the superficial and trite radio drama.”

The film was supposed to be shown as the closing film of the 2004 Makati Cinemanila International Film Festival but it did not push through due to technical difficulties. It had its world premiere at the New York Asian American International Film Festival instead.

Diaz won the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) Jury Award at the 2001 Cinemanila International Film Festival, the Best Film award at the 2002 Singapore International Film Festival, the Best Picture award at the Brussels International Film Festival, and the Best Picture and Best Director trophies at the 2002 Gawad Urian for his previous work
“Batang West Side.”

After .MOV, Diaz is expected to grace the screenings of his new film at the 23rd San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, 18th
Singapore International Film Festival, 6th Barcelona Asian Film Festival, Torino Film Festival, 29th Hong Kong International Film Festival, and other film festivals abroad.