Lavrente 'Lav' Indico Diaz (born December 30, 1958) is a Filipino independent filmmaker and former film critic. He is known as one of the key practitioners of the slow cinema genre, producing a diverse range of some of the longest narrative films that explore social and political issues, minimalistic storytelling, long takes, and cinematic form. Although he had been making films since the late 1990s, Diaz didn't attract much public attention outside of the Philippines and the festival circuit until the release of Norte, the End of History, which was entered into Un Certain Regard section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. His three subsequent films have received much critical attention and many awards with 2014's From What Is Before earning him the Golden Leopard at the 2014 Locarno International Film Festival as well as a nomination for the Asian Film Award for Best Director, 2016's A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery competing for the Golden Bear at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival and winning the Alfred Bauer Prize, and 2016's The Woman Who Left competing at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival and winning the Golden Lion.
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Biography from TMDB.
- December 30, 1958 (67)
- Columbio, Sultan Kudarat, Philippines
- Director, writer, editor, actor, cinematographer and producer, also composer
- 15 on MovieCove · 86 credits in all
What are Lav Diaz's films like?
Across their 15 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Survival and Power.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 1 · Earnest 14
Light 0 · Serious 4 · Dark 11
Grounded 6 · Stylized 6 · Heightened 3
A split, not a type: Gentle 5 · Charged 2 · Intense 8
Steady 10 · Shifting 4 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 13 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 1
Slow burn 12 · Even-paced 3 · Relentless 0
A split, not a type: Casual 3 · Engaged 4 · Full focus 8
Easy watch 1 · Affecting 4 · Heavy 10
A split, not a type: Resolved 3 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 9
Moods and endings
- Bittersweet7
- Tragic2
- Ambiguous5
- Cyclical1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Lav Diaz's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 11 of their 15 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on MUBI (8).
- From What Is Before (2014) · director, writer, producer, cinematographer, editor
- Evolution of a Filipino Family (2004) · director, writer, producer, cinematographer, editor
- Melancholia (2008) · director, writer, cinematographer, editor
- Century of Birthing (2011) · director, writer, producer, composer, cinematographer, editor
- Florentina Hubaldo, CTE (2012) · director, writer, producer, cinematographer, editor
- Storm Children: Book One (2014) · director, cinematographer, editor
- Elegy to the Visitor from the Revolution (2011) · actor, director, writer, cinematographer, editor
- An Investigation on the Night That Won't Forget (2012) · director, writer, cinematographer, editor
Subscription and free streaming for Lav Diaz's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
86 credits, 15 with a MovieCove page; 9 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Midcredits score: 73rd percentile of all films
Del Mundo (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
Cinemartyrs (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
Magellan(2025)
Midcredits score: 61st percentile of all films
Phantosmia (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
Moneyslapper (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)
Absalom Filipino (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)
Faith (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)
Midcredits score: 22nd percentile of all films
Real Life Fiction (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)
Rizal's Makamisa: Phantasm of Revenge (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)
When the Waves Are Gone (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
Essential Truths of the Lake (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
The Devil of Comparisons (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)
A Tale of Filipino Violence (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)
History of Ha (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)
Atravesando el campo (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)
Genus Pan (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)
Liminal (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)
Himala: A Dialectic for Our Times (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)
Blockbuster Where a Giant Monster Destroys a Town (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)
Mañanita (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)
The Oceans Are the Real Continents (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)
30th anniversaire of FIDMarseille (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)
The Halt (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)
Journey (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)
Ave (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
A Short History of a Few Bad Things (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
The Boy Who Chose the Earth (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
Season of the Devil (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
Lily (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
The Woman Who Left(2016)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
Singing in Graveyards (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
The Day Before the End (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
Salvage (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
Wake (Subic) (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
Fragment (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
Lorna(2014)
Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all films
Storm Children: Book One(2014)
Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all films
From What Is Before(2014)
Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films
Alamat ni China Doll (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
Prologue to the Great Desaparecido (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
Venice 70: Future Reloaded (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
Colossal (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Midcredits score: 24th percentile of all films
Jingle lang ang Pahina (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Florentina Hubaldo, CTE(2012)
Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all filmsThe Great Cinema Party (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Jeonju Digital Project 2012 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Century of Birthing(2011)
Midcredits score: 80th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 48th percentile of all films
Independencia (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Butterflies Have No Memory (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
어떤 방문 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Manila Skies (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Manila (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Purgatorio (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Melancholia(2008)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
Death in the Land of Encantos (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
Green Rocking Chair (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
Heremias: Book One - The Legend of the Lizard Princess (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)
Image Nation (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)
Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films
Headless (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2004)
Jesus the Revolutionary (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2002)
Batang West Side (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)
Naked Under the Moon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1999)
Burger Boys (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1999)
Serafin Geronimo: The Criminal of Barrio Concepcion (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1998)
Galvez: Hanggang sa Dulo ng Mundo, Hahanapin Kita (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1993)
Daddy Goon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1991)
Good Friend, Evil Enemy (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1991)
The Caretaker (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1989)
An Amazon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Ang Araw ng Itim na Nazareno (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Beatriz, La Mujer (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Beatriz, The Wife (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Henrico's Farm (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Heremias: Book Two – The Legend of The Invisible Island (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Kawalan (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
The Sacrifice (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
The Sadness of a Portuguese Woman (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Untitled When the Waves Are Gone sequel (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 86 titles, 76 of them dated from 1989 to 2026.
Biggest box office
Magellan (2025)
Highest rated
From What Is Before (2014)
Most popular right now
Magellan (2025)
By role
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
Awards
5 major awards from 12 major nominations, 2007–2020.
- Venice award, won · Best Director
- Venice award, nominated · Best Film
- Berlinale award, nominated · Best Film
- Venice award, won · Best Film
- Venice award, nominated
- Berlinale award, won
- Berlinale award, nominated
- Independent Spirit Award, nominated · Best International Film
- Cannes award, nominated
- Venice award, won · Best Film
- Venice award, won
- Venice award, nominated · Best Film
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Lav Diaz's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 79th percentile, the median of all 15; across their 15 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 88th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up8
- 50th to 74th4
- 25th to 49th1
- Below 25th2
Shape of the crowd
9 of their 15 titles are Mixed.
- Divisive2
- Cult Classic2
- Crowd Pleaser2
- Mixed9
Reviewers score the atmosphere 78/100 and the pacing 31/100 in their films, across 5 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Lav Diaz work with?
People who share at least 2 of Lav Diaz's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Hazel Orencio shares the most, 8.
Actors
- Hazel OrencioShared titles: Let Us Through, Dear Ancestors (2026), Magellan (2025), From What Is Before (2014), Norte, the End of History (2013), An Investigation on the Night That Won't Forget (2012), Florentina Hubaldo, CTE (2012), Century of Birthing (2011), Elegy to the Visitor from the Revolution (2011)See all 8 shared titles with Hazel Orencio
- Perry DizonShared titles: From What Is Before (2014), Norte, the End of History (2013), Century of Birthing (2011), Melancholia (2008), Kagadanan sa banwaan ning mga engkanto (2007)See all 5 shared titles with Perry Dizon
- Dante PerezShared titles: Florentina Hubaldo, CTE (2012), Century of Birthing (2011), Elegy to the Visitor from the Revolution (2011), Melancholia (2008), Kagadanan sa banwaan ning mga engkanto (2007)See all 5 shared titles with Dante Perez
- Roeder CamanagShared titles: From What Is Before (2014), Century of Birthing (2011), Melancholia (2008), Kagadanan sa banwaan ning mga engkanto (2007)See all 4 shared titles with Roeder Camanag
Producers
- Ronald ArguellesShared titles: The Woman Who Left (2016), Lorna (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Ronald Arguelles
