10 · 16 · 25

Gael García Bernal Premieres Lav Diaz's MAGALLANES at the 23rd FICM

Gustavo R. Gallardo

Magellan, by Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz, was presented at the 23rd Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) by Gael García Bernal, the star of the film, which recounts the navigator's historic expedition with the Spice Fleet.

The navigator rebelled against the king's power out of humanism and a belief in justice, but what will his journey reveal about himself once he is in command of the Spice Fleet, with which he will make the first circumnavigation of the Earth?

“It's a story very little is known about, because Magellan is a marginal figure, always considered a traitor, someone who went his own way,” said the actor. 

Joined by festival president Alejandro Ramírez and founder and director Daniela Michel, the producer, director, and friend of FICM, said that little is said about this figure because he marks the beginning of mestizaje.

“It's where we come from, what we continue to talk about in this long process of decolonization that we are undergoing, and why we have been talking a lot about who the hell we are,” he added.

Gael García Bernal thanked FICM for providing a space for Magellan, adding that it was a pleasure to return and present a film, and that director Lav Diaz would have loved to be in Morelia.