First Light Screens in the Philippines for the Benefit of Masungi Georeserve

Nearly a year since its international premiere, First Light is coming home to the Philippines and is giving back to the land.

It’s been nearly a year since I last spoke with James J. Robinson, director of First Light. At the time, Robinson and the cast were gearing up for its premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival, where Robinson won Best Australian Director. Since then, the film has been all over the world, joining festivals such as the Marrakech International Film Festival and the Glasgow Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Étoile d’Or and the Audience Award, respectively.

Last June 24, the film came to the homeland, with an impact campaign for the benefit of Masungi Georeserve. Led by Clou Media Productions in partnership with Sustina and Masungi Georeserve, block screenings of First Light will directly fund watershed protection at Masungi Georeserve, one of the most critical watersheds in the Philippines and home to irreplaceable biodiversity. The campaign is also going global, starting with New York Climate Week in September 2026.

“Filmmaking in the Philippines, and everywhere else, has to stop treating sustainability as an afterthought,” says Christelle Lou Dychangco, Clou Media Productions CEO. “First Light shows what’s possible when a film is built to leave something behind, not just box office numbers, but a place that’s actually better protected because the film existed. That’s the standard we want the industry to hold itself to, here and everywhere this story travels next.”

As First Light premieres in the Philippines, Vogue Philippines catches up with director James J. Robinson and key cast members Ruby Ruiz and Kare Adea.

After premiering internationally and, you know, earning so much acclaim abroad, you know, what does it finally mean for First Light to finally come home here to the Philippines?

James J. Robinson (JR): Yeah, well, if anything, I really think this is a film for Filipino audiences from the beginning. So much of the research that was done into the film was digging up thousands of years’ worth of pre-colonial wisdom, thanks to my creative producer and actor, Emmanuel Santos. And so to be able to make this film, which weaves in that wisdom, not only through dialogue, but through camera work and sound design, and to bring that around the world has been so special.

But now, to bring it back here to the Philippines, where my ancestors are, is really special. So yeah, this has always been the primary audience, Filipino audiences. So it’s very special.

Ruby, how does it feel knowing Filipino audiences will finally get to see First Light on the big screen?

Ruby Ruiz (RR): I am so excited & a bit nervous… but overwhelmingly proud to share with the local Filipino audience here in Manila, the very first Australian- Filipino collaboration … how First Light can showcase the fusion of two cultures in the realm of filmmaking & cinema.

How about you, Kare? What does the Philippine premiere of First Light mean to you personally?

Kare Adea (KA): It means that we are finally able to share this amazing film with Filipino audiences, and I hope it will have the same impact here as it has had in other countries.

On a personal note, when I was a young ballerina, and I was starting to love it, I had this dream where I hoped that the whole Philippines would someday recognise that there is a ballerina named Carissa Kare Adea.  That is what I wished for myself in this new platform that I am entering now.

You’ve traveled with the film internationally. How special is this Philippine premiere compared to those earlier screenings?

RR: It feels like paying homage to my home country… while it has garnered & earned applause & appreciation in other foreign countries, showing it to our homeland becomes more personal; it’s more like a prayer… where it should resonate louder here in our country than anywhere else in the world… because it’s our plea, a plea for justice & equality.

Kare Adea: There is a lot of pressure but also a lot of excitement. 

In hindsight, since this film is about a Filipino nun, I’m curious about how Filipino audiences will connect with her story and whether it resonates with them in ways I might not anticipate.

James, what kind of conversations are you most excited to have now that the film is finally home?

JR: Yeah, I think the most important thing for us is that one of the major points of the film is this idea of returning to the land. And so something we did from the very beginning was that we did a mumbaki up in the north, which was a ceremony that we did to welcome us to the land. I think the main conversation then is that, like, it’s one thing to talk about returning to the land.

It’s another thing for us now to partner with Sustina and actually put proceeds from our block screenings towards the Masungi Georeserve, which is such an important watershed for the protection of the Manila area and from flooding. So the fact that the film now can actually function as a way to give back to the land that gave to us by letting us shoot there, I think, is the most important conversation for us to be having.

Looking back at your journey since last year, you know, what does this premiere represent for you as a filmmaker? 

JR: Yeah, it’s funny because when I made the film, there was kind of like no endpoint. Everyone was like, how did it feel? But it’s like when we finished editing it, we still had to do sound design. So we did sound design. Then, when we did that, it was the color grading. And like, it was just kind of like, I feel like the bar for finishing the film kind of kept moving. And then we did our world premiere in Melbourne last year, which was really wonderful.

And it was great to show it to friends and family. And it’s been great to show it around the world

now. But to come back here to the Philippines, it’s, I think, looking back, and now that it’s been two years since we shot the film, I think it’s finally settling now that I can be an audience member and watch the film. I feel like at this point, I’ve released it from my hands, like it’s my baby, and now it’s out in the world. Because there’s always that concept of talking about the death of the artist in the work, which is something I really believe in. And I feel like that death is almost complete now. It’s like the film now exists in the world now that it’s available in all places in the Philippines.

After almost a year since its global premiere, what has made the wait for a Philippine premiere worthwhile?

KA:  I have seen the film resonate internationally, and now we finally get to bring it home, where it all started, and hear from Filipino audiences. That, for me, is very meaningful.

RR: Corruption in the Philippines has never been worse and more blatant than it is today. First Light is ever more relevant now … and how I wish it would become irrelevant someday, in this lifetime.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.