In the 16th century, young and ambitious Portuguese navigator Fernão de Magalhães rebels against the power of King Manuel I, who doesn’t support his dream of discovering the world. He persuades the Spanish Crown to fund his bold expedition to the fabled lands of the East. The voyage is exhausting beyond expectations, with hunger and mutiny pushing the crew to their limits. Upon reaching the islands of the Malayan Archipelago, Magalhães’ mind changes. He becomes obsessed with conquest and conversion, which sparks violent uprisings beyond his control.

A selection of Cannes Film Festival 2025 and the Philippines’ entry for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards.

“The quality and density of his static camera tableaux in ‘Magellan’ rank against similar painters of still motion like Manoel de Oliveira and Jim Jarmusch. His intuitive understanding of foreground and background, how to activate all portions of the image, left and right, close and far, top and bottom, is unparalleled and on full display in ‘Magellan’.”  ~ Jeff Reichert, Reverse Shot

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