The Philippines is setting its sights on Oscar gold, and this year the voyage is led by none other than the cinematic maverick Lav Diaz. His latest work, Magellan, has officially been selected as the country’s entry to the 98th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film, emerging victorious over six other contenders. And if the early buzz is anything to go by, this slow-burning epic might just make waves big enough to be felt across Hollywood.

The film first dropped anchor at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, screening in the prestigious Cannes Premiere section. There, Magellan drew a standing ovation—no small feat in a festival known for its notoriously tough crowd.

Magellan will screen at the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival before its Philippine premiere on September 10, 2025.

The historical drama revisits Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, played by award-winning actor Gael Garcia Bernal, and culminates in his death at Mactan. The story also unfolds in Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog, and French, painting a multilingual portrait of 16th-century Southeast Asia.

After seven years of research, the filmmaker suggests that the Filipino warrior LapuLapu—the man who famously killed Magellan—might be more myth than reality. “Nobody ever saw LapuLapu,” Diaz said, implying that the figure may have been concocted by Rajah Humabon to resist conversion to Christianity.

It’s a bold narrative swing that’s already sparking debates. Diaz isn’t just making a movie; he’s challenging the foundation of the stories a nation tells about itself.

The film was originally planned as one piece but was later divided into two. The first chapter centers on Magellan himself, while the companion piece that is still untitled explores the world through Beatriz’s eyes. For dedicated viewers, Diaz has teased a nine-hour combined cut of the film.

The production was as ambitious as the story it tells. Shooting began in Quezon Province before moving to Portugal and Cádiz, Spain, where a replica of Magellan’s ship, the Victoria, provided an authentic stage for the voyage. It’s a film that quite literally circumnavigated the globe in its making.

With Magellan, Diaz may have finally found the sweet spot, an ambitious, provocative, and visually stunning work that appeals to both critics and award voters. If successful, it would mark the first Oscar nomination for the Philippines in the International Feature category—a milestone decade in the making.

Magellan is a conversation-starter and the Philippines’ strongest Oscar contender yet. Its agency, Cinetic Marketing, behind international feature winners Parasite and Drive My Car, is making sure the team is being intentional with its strategy and ‘playing their cards right’ to give the film its best chance internationally.

Magellan is one voyage worth taking. 

PHOTOS: Ruben Nepales & Bertrand Guay, AFP, IMDB, Cannes Film Festival