On From What Is Before. A dialogue with Lav Diaz and Hazel Orencio

This text presents extracts from a masterclass given in 2019 at HEAD- Geneva by Lav Diaz and Hazel Orencio (actress and assistant director) around the making of the film From What Is Before. Lav Diaz explains how the film was inspired by his youth in a village in the heart of the forest. He stresses the importance of location in his films and explains how he composes his frames, inviting the actors behind the camera to become aware of the setting they will be inhabiting. Actress Hazel Orencio recounts a scene in which a torrential downpour unexpectedly appears. However, the shot is filmed to the end, despite the downpour, allowing the powers of nature to express themselves in the same way as the actors and animals.