Thai sales agent Diversion has boarded Filipino drama Phantosmia by Golden Lion-winning director Lav Diaz ahead of its world premiere out of competition at the Venice Film Festival.
The four-hour, black-and-white drama explores the harrowing psychological journey of a retired military officer, who suffers from a recurring olfactory disorder, which affects sense of smell, possibly linked to past traumas. As he revisits the darkest episodes of his life in a remote penal colony, the film delves into themes of violence, memory, and the dark side of human condition.
Shot in Sampaloc, in the Quezon province of the Philippines, the film stars seasoned actor Ronnie Lazaro from Diaz’s When The Waves Are Gone and A Lullaby To The Sorrowful Mystery, and rising star Janine Gutierrez.
Diaz is a Venice regular and Phantosmia marks his eighth time on the Lido. He has earned four awards there to date, including the Golden Lion for 2016’s The Woman Who Left, Horizons’ best film prize for 2008’s Melancholia and Horizons best director prize for 2020’s Genus, Pan.
Diversion has acquired world sales rights outside the Philippines from producers Black Cap Pictures, Ten17P and Sine Olivia Pilipinas.
The Bangkok-based company also handles sales of Diaz’s A Tale Of Filipino Violence, which premiered at FIDMarseille in 2022.
Also on the company’s slate is Sivaroj Kongsakul’s Regretfully At Dawn, which is set to premiere in the New Directors competition at San Sebastián next month, and Subhadra Mahajan’s Karlovy Vary selection Second Chance.
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