MANILA, Philippines - There was love in the entire room when the jury told Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz that his entry, ?Melancholia,? had topped the Orizzonti section of the 65th Venice Film Festival.

Diaz recalled: ?They hugged me and told me that, although they watched my film for eight hours, it took only two minutes for them to decide to give the Grand Prize to me.?

Headed by Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman, the Orizzonti jury is composed of French film professor Nicole Brenez, Italian actress Barbara Cupisti, Spanish filmmaker Jose Luis Guerin and Estonian filmmaker Veiko Õunpuu.

Ecstatic

Diaz said, ?Akerman was ecstatic. She told me that, although she had watched it days earlier, she was still seeing the movie?s images in her dreams.?

A lot of fuss is made over the daunting length of Diaz?s movies. (Running time of ?Death in the Land of Encantos,? which won a Special Mention prize in last year?s Orizzonti, is nine hours.)

According to reports, ?Melancholia? was originally earmarked for the Venice film fest?s main competition. ?That?s true,? Diaz confirms.

He recounted that Marco Mueller, festival director, had given him a slot in the main section on condition that his entry would be under four hours. ?I told them that I couldn?t betray my aesthetics.?

Making it in festivals, Diaz explained, does not dictate the length of his films. ?It depends on the story. If I can make a four-hour film, fine. But I wouldn?t force it.?

Non-issue

He?s done two-hour films, like ?Serafin Geronimo, Kriminal ng Barrio Concepcion? and ?Hubad sa Ilalim ng Buwan.? He pointed out, ?I just finished a six-minute short titled ?Paghihintay sa Unos,? about Boracay kids who wait for storms.?

As far as Diaz is concerned, length is a non-issue. ?Producers ask if I can still do a two-hour film,? he said. ?Of course! But please give me creative control.?

He said he initially thought ?Melancholia? would run for only four hours. ?But when I started shooting, I realized it would be longer.?

He elaborated on his creative process: ?I usually write the script while shooting. Sometimes I would see new threads and include them in the movie. The story constantly evolves. In the end, I become a slave to the process. I have no choice but to follow.?

Next stop

Seems length is not that huge a deal among foreigners, though. ??Encantos? and ?Heremias? (which also runs 9 hours) have been bought by (Italian channel) RAI TV, which will screen them twice in the next two years,? Diaz reported. ?RAI plans to air each film in two parts.?

Next stop for ?Melancholia? is the Cinemanila film fest in October, where it will compete in the main section.

He described ?Melancholia? as his ode to ?our sad republic, with its history of rampant corruption and senseless violence.?

Diaz plans to further pursue the story of desaparecidos (victims of summary execution)? which he tackled in ?Melancholia?? in his next film, the revolutionary saga ?Oriang.? He is considering Iza Calzado to play the Lakambini (muse) of the Katipunan.

Acting breaks

?It will focus on Gregoria de Jesus? 40-day search for the body of Andres Bonifacio in the mountains of Maragondon,? he noted. ?She never found his grave. One of our national heroes is a desaparecido.?

Diaz, who has acted in a slew of short films, has a cameo in Raya Martin and Adolf Alix Jr.?s twin bill, ?Manila.?

?I played a director,? he said.

And it was a no-brainer for him, making that decision. ?I love those guys (Raya and Adolf). They are continuing our struggle for a free cinema.?

E-mail: bayanisandiego@hotmail.com