The film is the director’s eighth entry for the prestigious festival.
Lav Diaz’s 2024 film Phantosmia just premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival on September 2, 2024.
The film was screened under the out-of-competition category in the fiction section. It joined other features such as Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Kevin Costner’s Horizon, and Jon Watts’ Wolfs, among others.
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This marks Diaz’s eighth entry for the film festival. Back then, his 2016 film The Woman Who Left received the Golden Lion, the highest prize given at the festival.
He has also won Orizzonti (Horizons) awards at the festival, one for Melancholia (2008) for Best Film and another for Genus, Pan (2020) for Best Director.
Diaz was present to celebrate the momentous occasion, along with the film’s stars Ronnie Lazaro, Janine Gutierrez, Hazel Orencio, Dong Abay, and Paul Jake Paule as well as producer Paul Soriano.
Behind Phantosmia
In the film, the main character Hilarion Zabala has a mysterious olfactory problem known as phantosmia or a phantom smell.
The condition, likely caused by trauma, is a deep psychological fracture. To cure his problem, Hilarion revisits the darkest moments from his time in military service while confronting the realities of his present situation.
“Do human beings have the right to kill other human beings?” Diaz also wrote in his director’s statement. “A big part of the story of Phantosmia is about this discourse, and other questions about man’s existence.”
Filmed in black-and-white, Phantosmia has a running time of 246 minutes or about four hours.
‘Super dream come true’
One of the film’s lead actors Janine Gutierrez, who plays Reyna, turned heads with her Venice Film Festival looks. In an interview with GMA, she shared that this was her first time attending an international festival.
For the film’s photocall, she wore a black dress with sheer long sleeves and a column silhouette from Inno Sotto. Later, she changed into a new dress for the red carpet of the film’s premiere.
The second look was designed by Vania Romoff. The powder blue gown featured a tulip skirt, a deep neckline, and a bow at the back. Both gowns were also paired with pieces from JMA Jewelry.
“We screened to a full house and it was my first time to experience that minutes-long film festival standing ovation,” Gutierrez later wrote on Instagram.
“We send it back to every single member of the cast and crew and to everyone who’s ever fought to make a film or a project or a piece of art they love. So grateful. Thank you for supporting Phantosmia and to everyone who’s been so loving from back home.”
Banner image via Instagram @janinegutierrez.
