Catalogue > Un extrait vidéo au hasard

Encyclopaedias describe St. Elmo's fire as a harmless meteorological phenomenon caused by a strong static discharge. In Philippine mythology, a "santelmo" is a wandering soul of a deceased person who has not found peace yet. Three young men wandering through countryside seeking in vain reconciliation with the world. Their aimless journey is accompanied by rustling of leaves and grass, chirping of insects, and singing of birds, conversations about people for whom they have suffered and whom they plan to take revenge on. Yet, they are prevented from freeing themselves by memories that cannot be killed.

Liryc Dela Cruz (1992) is an artist and filmmaker from Tupi, South Cotabato in Mindanao, Philippines and now based in Rome, Italy. His works were selected and screened in different international film festivals and art events. His debut short film “The Ebb of Forgetting” premiered at the prestigious 68th Locarno Film Festival. His films are thematically related to his origins, history, and personal psychology. His works outside cinema focuses on care, indegenous practices, decolonial practices, post-colonial Philippines, transpacific slave trade, hospitality and reconnecting the colonized and slave body to the soil. Dela Cruz was one of the key collaborators of Philippine independent master filmmaker Lav Diaz. He is also considered as one of the representatives of the slow cinema movement (Ji.hlava IDFF ‘18). In 2019, he represented Italy at the UK Young Artist in Nottingham, he was selected as one of the artists of AtWork Venice mentored by Simon Njami and was the Editor in Chief of the Where is South exhibition at the Palazzo Querini, Fondazione Ugo e Olga Levi as part of the “Rothko in Lampedusa'' initiative during the 58th Venice Biennale. In 2020, he was selected as one of the young emerging filmmakers to represent Italy in Berlinale Talents during the 70th Berlin International Film Festival. Dela Cruz was also mentored by French Political Scientist and Activist, Françoise Vergès during the Mediterranean Ecofeminist Decolonial Union for Self-Education in Lecce, Italy. Recently, he debuted a performance in Teatro di Roma - Teatro Nazionale in Rome as part of his ongoing research project “Il Mio Filippino/a,” a project about “gestures of care and cleaning methods” of Filipino cleaning workers. The same project was also a recipient of Artissima - Torino Social Impact Art Award for the year 2020 and has been selected by Cité internationale des arts Paris for their residency program in 2022 and by Mattatoio di Roma for its Prender-si Cura residency programme. Currently, Dela Cruz is developing “Ocean as a Space of Perpetual Care '' a project based on indigenous care and hospitality of pre-colonial Filipinos and from the diary of Antonio Pigafetta.