Director: Lav Diaz
Cast: Gael García Bernal, Amado Arjay Babon, Ronnie Lazaro, Ângela Ramos, Dario Yazbek Bernal
Magellan is a 2025 historical epic directed by Lav Diaz, chronicling the extraordinary and brutal voyage of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan — the first circumnavigation of the Earth — told through the eyes of a Filipino auteur whose own homeland was forever changed by that fateful expedition.
What is Magellan about?
The film follows Ferdinand Magellan's obsessive ambition to sail westward across uncharted oceans in service of the Spanish crown, seeking a western route to the Spice Islands. Gael García Bernal portrays a man consumed by his own vision, leading a fractious crew through storm, starvation, and mutiny across thousands of miles of open sea. As months stretch into years, the expedition's high ideals begin collapsing under the weight of violence, disease, and the crushing indifference of the natural world. Lav Diaz unfolds the journey in his characteristically unhurried rhythm, giving space to the silences between ambition and consequence — asking what it truly costs to place your name on a map that was never yours to claim.
Cast & crew
Gael García Bernal, the acclaimed Mexican actor known for his work in art-house and international cinema, carries the film as Magellan. Amado Arjay Babon and Ronnie Lazaro represent the Filipino perspective that anchors Diaz's moral lens on the story. The supporting ensemble includes Ângela Ramos, Dario Yazbek Bernal, Tomás Alves, Bong Cabrera, and Hazel Orencio, drawn from the filmmakers' regular collaborators across Portugal, Spain, and the Philippines.
Context & significance
Lav Diaz is one of world cinema's most distinctive voices — a Filipino director celebrated at major international festivals for his slow, meditative epics that interrogate colonialism and human endurance. For Persian-speaking viewers in the diaspora who have lived the experience of displacement and cultural rupture, Magellan offers something deeply resonant: a story about how a single journey of conquest reshapes entire civilizations, and how the colonized rarely get to write the official account. The film is available on K-Time with Persian dubbing and Persian subtitles, making this challenging, visually rich work accessible in your language.
Where & how to watch
Magellan is available on K-Time with Persian dubbing and Persian subtitles. Stream on the web at ktime.app, on your smart TV using the K-Time دستگاه, or on your Android phone — no VPN required, no geo-blocking, no extra download. Cancel anytime.