The Boy Who Chose The Earth

The idea of commissioning Lav Diaz to direct a two-minute trailer might sound like a cinephilic jest. But the result of this experiment in contrasts is a dense, evocative short film that transmits layers of narrative and mystery in its brief run time. Aesthetically speaking, The Boy Who Chose The Earth resembles some of Diaz´s early shadowy black-and-white works, albeit marked by a somewhat softer, finer touch. While maintaining a focus on the relations of family, and the importance of place, its tone departs starkly from Diaz´s often wrenching epic-realist sensibilities. It involves a young boy, an anonymous son, who lives seemingly self-sustained in what might be the present and might be the end of the world. He is alone amid an ostensibly functional, if precarious universe. His occupations form a picture of early subjectivity – and a prompt to explore, from the inner self to an ever-obscured life outside. (Viennale catalogue 2018, Rachael A. Rakes)