Norte, the End of History, Lav Diaz (Philippines, 2013)

Inspired by Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, art-house favorite Lav Diaz’s latest epic profoundly explores everything from the state of the present-day rural Philippines to the 1890s Philippine Revolution against the Spanish. And it does so without wasting a single scene of its 250-minute running time. Indie Filipino actor Sid Lucero gives a stunning performance as Fabian, an existential law-school dropout who gets entangled in a small village’s feud: as one man is wrongfully imprisoned, the actual criminal thinks he’s escaped scot-free. What begins is a parallel journey in a drama that has garnered comparisons to Taiwanese master Edward Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day (1991), and that the Nuremburg International Human Rights Film Festival jury celebrated by awarding Norte the festival’s top prize, declaring “Through the subtle yet complex narration the film weaves together social, political, religious, and literary aspects into an organic and humanistic whole.” This is a rare opportunity to experience a contemporary masterpiece on a theatrical screen.

—Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

• Written by Diaz, Rody Vera. Photographed by Lauro Rene Manda. With Sid Lucero, Archie Alemania, Angeli Bayani, Mae Paner. (250 mins)