Sales company Luxbox has closed a distribution deal for France with Nour Films on Lav Diaz’s “Magellan,” starring Gael García Bernal, which has its world premiere within the Cannes Premiere part of the Cannes Film Festival.
The movie, set within the sixteenth century, follows Magellan, a younger and bold Portuguese navigator. He rebels in opposition to the facility of the King of Portugal, who doesn’t help his dream of discovering the world, and persuades the Spanish monarchy to fund his daring expedition to the fabled lands of the East.
The voyage is exhausting past expectations, with starvation and mutiny pushing the crew to their limits. Upon reaching the islands of the Malayan Archipelago, Magellan’s thoughts modifications. He turns into obsessive about conquest and conversion, which sparks violent uprisings past his management.
The Nour Films staff stated in a joint assertion: “With uncommon evocative energy, ‘Magellan’ stands out as a brand new masterpiece by Lav Diaz. The Filipino filmmaker delivers a pictorial fresco of the sixteenth century, directly a sensory immersion and an uncompromising political perspective on colonial violence.
“Gael García Bernal plays an unsettling Magellan, full of contradictions. His magnetic, restrained performance gives flesh to this mythical character, without ever sanctifying him. A monumental film that Nour Films is proud to support.”
Nour Films was the distributor of Berlinale 2018 Golden Bear winner “Touch Me Not,” Cannes 2023 Caméra d’Or winner “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,” Berlinale 2023 documentary “Seven Winters in Tehran” and Berlinale 2024 Teddy Award winner “All Shall Be Well.”
The producer of “Magellan” is Joaquim Sapinho at Rosa Filmes in Portugal. The co-producers are Andergraun Films (Spain), Black Cap Pictures (Philippines), Ten17P (Philippines), El Viaje Filmes (Spain), Volos Films (Taiwan), Lib Films (France) and AKP21 (France).
Diaz’s earlier movies embody “The Woman Who Left,” which gained Venice’s Golden Lion in 2016, and “From What Is Before,” which gained Locarno’s Golden Leopard in 2014.
