Mark the date, cinephiles and history buffs. Auteur Lav Diaz has a treat for everyone this Independence Day. To honor our country’s freedom, his eight-hour epic “Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis” will stream for free from Jun. 12 to 14.

Eraserhead’s frontman and actor Ely Buendia shared the news on Twitter this Jun. 8. “Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis, Lav Diaz’s eight-hour epic will be streaming for free on Youtube on June 12. Mark the date,” tweets Buendia. This is the perfect time to stream a piece of cinema that mirrors our current struggles in our country.

ICYMI, “Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis” is a film tackling the fate of our country. It’s a mixture of history and surrealism. In this film, rich Filipino folklore and history are under one Venn diagram. One story focuses on Gregoria De Jesus as she searches for Andres Bonifacio and his brother Procopio’s body, while the other follows the story of Simoun and Crisostomo Ibarra as they treat Simoun’s gunshot wound.

“Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis” stars Philippine cinema’s giants. John Lloyd Cruz, Piolo Pascual, Alessandra de Rossi, Sid Lucero, Ely Buendia and many others tell Lav Diaz’s story of the rise and fall of the Filipino revolution. The film will stream on TEN17P’s Youtube channel.

Watch the trailer below:

The 2016 Berlinale Film Festival Silver Bear award winning film, Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapis, a Lav Diaz film.
To celebrate Philippine Independence, we are streaming #HeleSaHiwagangHapis on TEN17P’s YouTube Channel for FREE this June 12-14. Click link: https://t.co/qH76YY3SUf pic.twitter.com/RpPEnZMTOV

— TEN17P (@Ten17P) June 6, 2020