On 22 September 1976, Ferdinand Marcos issued the presidential decree No. 1016, which led to the creation of a paramilitary group named Integrated Civilian Home Defense Forces (CHDF). This terrorist militia subsequently murdered nurses like Lorena, who looked after the poorest of the poor, but also poets like Hugo, who embarked on a search for the disappeared. People whose actions spoke louder than their words.
Lorena and Hugo are at the centre of Bildrausch 2017 jury member Lav Diaz’s Season of the Devil, an additional contribution about the history and present of his homeland, which he already dedicated himself to in Evolution of a Filipino Family (2004), From What Is Before (2014) and A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery. New here is the fact that the story is completely sung in blank verse, in the spirit of Homer. Singing, according to the idea behind the film, is meant to help make the story easier to remember and pass on. Season of the Devil alternates between opera, musical and musical theatre. No work in the history of cinema can even be remotely compared to this film. And few are as poignant, powerful, generous and kind-hearted.
