THE WOMAN WHO LEFT Masters in Conversation

Led by AFI FEST programmers, this conversation will discuss the filmmaker and his work.

Winner of the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival, THE WOMAN WHO LEFT is the latest grand vision from renowned Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz. The film opens in a rural women’s prison, where Horacia, an older inmate, teaches language to her fellow prisoners. That is, until Horacia is called to the warden’s office one day, where she is told that her conviction was recently proven a frame job, and is immediately freed. Returning to her hometown after a three-decade-long absence, Horacia plots revenge on those who set her up and stole years of her life. But even with vengeance on her mind, she also strongly yearns to reconnect with her family, and to somehow get back the life she once had. Family, class and religion are all explored with the restraint, intimacy and emotional heft that only Diaz can conjure.