Lav Diaz to Direct ‘An Amazon’ With Sine Olivia Pilipinas and Silverbelt Films Producing (EXCLUSIVE)

Filipino director Lav Diaz is in pre-production with “An Amazon,” following the world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival of “Magellan,” starring Gael Garcia Bernal.

The project will be shot in Diaz’s native Philippines. Diaz’ Sine Olivia Pilipinas will produce the film with the French production company Silverbelt Films, founded by Pierre-Yves Bezat, who previously worked at Films Boutique.

The new film is based on a little known short story written by Alexandre Dumas. It will be the first film that Diaz will make in English, and will include some internationally well-known actors among its cast.

“An Amazon” is the story of a young man who meets a mysterious and masked woman during a ball. She refuses to disclose her identity, and swears to kill him if he reveals their affair.

Bezat said: “For ‘An Amazon,’ Lav Diaz was extremely inspired since our very first discussions around this deep and unknown story by Dumas, and the way it feels more contemporary than ever almost 200 years later.”

According to Diaz, “This Dumas story keeps striking me over and over again since we discussed this work with Pierre-Yves Bezat. The narration of ‘An Amazon’ has deep emotions and deep mystery around it, and is more contemporary than ever as our modern dictators’ masks are cracking everyday.”

“An Amazon” will be shot at the end of this year, and is currently in the final stage of its financing.

Diaz’s previous films include “From What Is Before,” which won Locarno’s Golden Leopard in 2014, “A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery,” winner of Berlin’s Alfred Bauer Award in 2016, and “The Woman Who Left,” which won Venice’s Golden Lion in 2016.

Silverbelt Films, which was set up in January 2023, also distributes short films, including “Free Drum Kit” by Carmen Leroi, selected in competition at Cannes’ Critics’ Week.