Ranked 9 (tied with Der Fremde am See (2013)) in the ten best films of 2013 by the film magazine Sights & Sounds.
95% of the original script written by Rody Vera had been revised during the shoot by Lav Diaz.
Winner, Nuremberg International Human Rights Film Award, Nuremberg International Human Rights Film Festival 2013. "Through the subtle yet complex narration the film weaves together social, political, religious and literary aspects into an organic and humanistic whole, " cites by the jury.
Official submission of the Philippines to the best foreign language film category of the 87th Academy Awards 2015.
Won, Best Film, 1st Pancevo Film Festival 2014, in Serbia. The jury's statement reads: The Filipino film "Norte, the End of History" exposes the influence that unsolved and catastrophic tensions of modern-day social relationships and processes have on the individual, and on his feelings of ethics, justice, and responsibility. Director Lav Diaz confronts the questions posed by Dostoyevsky in "Crime and Punishment" with contemporary and different ideological concepts. By using a specific and original film language (long shots, authentic and almost documentary-like acting, a suggestive narrative) "Norte" manages to tell a shockingly epic story which denounces contemporary civilization. The jury is composed by Vladislava Milosavljevic (Serbian actress), Bobo Jelcic (Croatian film and theatre director) and Branislav Dimitrijevic (Serbian art historian, critic and curator).