Director: | Lav Diaz |
---|---|
Production: | Black Cap Pictures, TEN17P (Paul Soriano, Mark Victor), Sine Olivia Pilipinas (Lav Diaz) |
Running Time: | 246’ |
Language: | Tegalog |
Country: | Philippines |
Year: | 2024 |
Main Cast: | Ronnie Lazaro, Janine Gutierrez, Paul Jake Paule, Hazel Orencio |
Screenplay: | Lav Diaz |
Cinematographer: | Lav Diaz |
Editor: | Lav Diaz |
Production Designer: | Lav Diaz |
Costume Designer: | Eouia Aum Dueñas |
Sound: | Corinne de San Jose, Cecil Buban |
Visual Effects: | The Post Office |
Phantosmia
![](https://static.labiennale.org/files/styles/full_screen_slide/public/cinema/2024/Schede_film/970x647/Fuori_Concorso/phantosmia.jpg?itok=0oJZO1JQ)
synopsis
Hilarion Zabala’s mysterious olfactory problem has recurred; a counselor/psychiatrist suspects it to be a lingering case of phantosmia, a phantom smell, and possibly caused by trauma, a deep psychological fracture. One recommended radical process to cure the ailment was that Hilarion must go back and deal with the darkest currents of his past life in the military service. Reassigned in the very remote Pulo Penal Colony, he must also confront the horrific realities of his present situation.
director's statement
Do human beings have the right to kill other human beings? A big part of the story of Phantosmia is about this discourse, and other questions about man’s existence. One of the main protagonists of the film is a retired military officer. All his life, he has done military and police services and most of those experiences were burdened by violence with institutional sanction. Even his upbringing is laden with violence, because of his father’s perspective on dealing with life’s challenges—that man must be tough, mentally and physically. He remembers waking up every morning and the very first words he heard were “You are a fighter!” and “You are a warrior!”; and the very first exercises would be about how to use a gun and how to fight. Thus, he became a true fighter and a warrior, by his own reckoning, but a very violent one, and he believed then that violence was part of his duty, and it is a natural attribute of the military and police institutions. These kinds of conditionings have profoundly spawned fascist, authoritarian, feudal and barbaric setups.
PRODUCTION/DISTRIBUTION
PRODUCTION 1: Black Cap Pictures
Main contact: Bianca Trinidad
Producers: Paul Soriano, Mark Victor
Warehouse 12C, La Fuerza Plaza 2241
1231, Makati City, Philippines
Tel. 63 28339895/+639173003234
email: films@blackcappictures.com // mav@ten17p.com and/or bianca@ten17p.com
FB: facebook.com/phantosmiafilm
IG: instagram.com/phantosmiafilm
X: x.com/phantosmiafilm
PRODUCTION 2: TEN17P
Main contact: Bianca Trinidad
Producers: Paul Soriano, Mark Victor
Warehouse 12C, La Fuerza Plaza 2241
1231, Makati City, Philippines
Tel. 63 28339895/+639173003234
contact@ten17p.com and/or bianca@ten17p.com and/or mav@ten17p.com
PRODUCTION 3: Sine Olivia Pilipinas
Director: Lav Diaz
Main contact: Hazel Orencio
Unit 307 Alicante Tower Marquinton Residences
1800, Marikina, Philippines
Tel. 63 9172744220
hazelorencio@gmail.com and/or lavrente@yahoo.com
WORLD SALES: TEN17P/Black Cap Pictures:
Warehouse 12C, La Fuerza Plaza 2241
1231, Makati City, Philippines
Tel. 63 28339895/+639173003234
bianca@ten17p.com and/or contact@ten17p.com
PRESS OFFICE : Gloria Zerbinati
Independent
Via Palmiro Togliatti 15
45010 Rovigo, Italy Tel. 33 0) 7 86 80 02 82
gloria.zerbinati@gmail.com