In Conversation + Film Magellan 2025 MA15+

Production still from Magellan 2025 / Director: Lav Diaz / Image courtesy: Plainwater

Production still from Magellan 2025 / Director: Lav Diaz / Image courtesy: Plainwater / View full image

When

6.00 pm, Thu 23 Apr 2026 (208 mins)
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Where

Gallery of Modern Art, Cinema A

Accessibility

  • Subtitled
  • Wheelchair Accessible

Admission

Free

About

Join us for a very special screening, featuring an in-person In Conversation with celebrated Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz discussing Magellan and his unique creative practice. The event is free, with no bookings required.

At the dawn of the modern era, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (Gael García Bernal) persuades the Spanish Crown to fund a daring voyage into uncharted oceans, attempting the first passage across the vast Pacific. The globe-spanning journey becomes a test of endurance and faith, as hunger, storms, and mutiny push the crew to the brink. Upon reaching the Malay Archipelago, Magellan’s dream of discovery hardens into obsession, sparking rebellion and a reckoning with devastating consequences. Vast in scale and hypnotic in its power, Lav Diaz’s Magellan is a visually ravishing historical and spiritual epic that has been greeted with acclaim around the world.

This event screening is generously supported by Belinda and Darren Elderton through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation.

MA15+ | Strong themes, violence, nudity and sex scenes

Photograph of Lav Diaz / Image courtesy: Plainwater

Photograph of Lav Diaz / Image courtesy: Plainwater / View full image

Lav Diaz

Lav Diaz is a Filipino filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, and editor. 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. Diaz is widely regarded as one of the leading figures of “slow cinema,” a style defined by static compositions, a contemplative pace, and a deep engagement with time and space. 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.

Production Credits

  • Director: Lav Diaz
  • Script: Lav Diaz
  • Cinematographers: Lav Diaz, Artur Tort
  • Editors: Lav Diaz, Artur Tort
  • Cast: Gael García Bernal, Ronnie Lazaro, Ângela Azevedo
  • Print Source: Plainwater
  • Rights: Plainwater
  • Year: 2025
  • Runtime: 164 minutes
  • Countries: Philippines, Portugal, Spain, France, Taiwan
  • Languages: Portuguese, Spanish, Cebuano, French
  • Subtitles: English
  • Colour: Colour
  • Shooting Format: Digital
  • Screening Format: DCP