Hazel Orencio Best Actress at Locarno Filmfest

MANILA, Philippines - FLASH: Hazel Orencio (left) won Best Actress at the 67th Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland for her performance in the film Mula sa Kung Ano ang Noon (From What is Before) directed by Lav Diaz (right) in black and white.    

Playing for 388 minutes (6 hours and 47 minutes), the movie is about the poor villagers in a remote region of the Philippines before Martial Law was declared by Pres. Ferdinand Marcos. Loosely based on real events and characters, it examines how people and the collective psyche respond to extreme and mysterious changes in social and physical environment.

Mula is the follow-up to Diaz’s much-acclaimed four-hour movie Norte, Ang Hangganan ng Kasaysayan (The End of History) which won for its leading lady, Angeli Bayani, Best Actress in this year’s Urian Awards.