No matter how many times you’ve seen films by one filmmaker, say in this case the auteur Lav Diaz, you try to decipher what new things he has to say, what novel innovations he has devised through the years in his capacity as the cinema’s elderly guard.

Lea Salonga became the first-ever homegrown Filipino artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Sept. 4, marking another huge milestone in a career that began on a Manila stage and through the years helped open doors for Filipino performers around the world.