Filmmaker JT Trinidad’s sweet, sweet journey to the Locarno International Film Festival
JT Trinidad got an email while walking around Makati with their cousin. They screamed and almost lost it in public upon reading: It was an acceptance letter at the Locarno International Film Festival for their short film, Honey, My Love, So Sweet. The filmmaker immediately called their producers to share the momentous news. Having been rejected multiple times in the past, they’re finally going to Locarno.
JT was featured in a Young STAR cover story two years ago as part of a group of documentary filmmakers. Since that feature, JT dove into narrative fiction with QCinema grantee The River That Never Ends, an ode to the sprawling Pasig River. With Honey, My Love, So Sweet, the milieu of the river changes to a dilapidated theater, although the city is still very much a character of its own.
“Nung gumagawa ako ng docu, nakatira ako sa Laguna. Kakabili lang ng bahay ng parents ko sa province recently kaya nando’n kami. Pero I grew up talaga sa Manila, parang ‘yun ang mas normal sa akin. Feel ko mas inappropriate if sa iba ko siya i-set,” JT said in a video interview with Young STAR.
Honey, My Love, So Sweet follows a kid named Life (Kian Co) as they and their mother Martha (Mina Cruz) move into the decaying Times Theater in Quiapo, the heart of Manila. They live with Marco (Manuel Tinio), the theater projectionist, and his son Gab (Marcus Timbas). Life develops a friendship with Gab, but even though the latter admits attraction to the former, it is with Marco that Life develops feelings of yearning.
Like their other films, Honey, My Love, So Sweet explores themes of queerness. But JT is wary of labeling it queer. “A future should exist na wala nang ganitong labels, especially nagkakaroon ng segregation towards queer films. Just because they tackle identity politics, nagkakaroon na ng separate award for them,” they explained. “I consider it a ‘life film.’ Feeling ko mas tungkol ang film sa desires ng characters as individual people.”
“Hindi ko siya outright mako-consider na queer film, but if people would call it such, I would get it if it’s necessary to live with such (labels).”
JT shared the arduous task of preparing for the festival. They had to apply for Film Development of the Philippines grants to help fund the trip; Locarno only provided three nights’ accommodation for JT. It didn’t sink in that the festival was happening until they were there in person, for their mind was locked in at a shoot for QCinema a few days before their flight.
As for the festival itself, JT said Locarno was different compared to the film festivals we have in the Philippines, and to the couple of other international film festivals they’ve attended. For starters, the venues between screenings were so far away that one needed to take transportation to get there. Even though the people were warm, they didn’t get the chance to bond and connect with others as much as they wanted to. Moreover, Locarno’s culture of afterparties is also different from ours.
Honey, My Love, So Sweet was the only entry from Southeast Asia in Locarno’s Pardi di Domani: Concorso Internazionale category, a competition for short and medium-length films. Meaning, the film greeted a European audience far removed from Filipino sensibilities. JT remembered feeling very anxious to the point of nausea as they introduced the film. But after the film was finished, the audience applauded until the lights turned on. Some also approached JT after the program to say words of affirmation. “Nakaka-warm ‘yung ganoong mga moments. Of course, nagbabasa naman ako ng Letterboxd, mixed (reviews) naman siya, pero sanay naman na ako do’n.”
When asked if there’s something he learned during the trip, it’s that demystification can be sobering. They explained, “Before, you would put these people on a pedestal, na parang ‘Oh, ito ‘yung mga pangarap nating filmmakers,’ or ‘pangarap nating makapunta sa ganyan.’ Tapos kapag nakita na natin sila, ‘Ah, tao lang din pala sila.’ ‘Yung mga ganoong feeling na masyado silang idealized pero mabait sila, tao sila. May mga feelings sila, nahahawakan pala sila. It’s possible pala to be in a space like that.”
Honey, My Love, So Sweet is a reworked version of JT’s thesis film as an undergraduate student at the UP Film Institute. They graduated summa cum laude and as college valedictorian last year. Looking back, they only have one thing to say to their past self: Don’t stop. “Everything comes from the heart. May nagtatanong sa akin paano makapasok sa QCinema. May mga specific daw ba silang gusto. Hindi ko alam. Feeling ko, if the story comes from within you, time will come when people will be ready to hear it,” they said. “Kung naniwala ako na the only way to make films is through grant-giving festivals (or) being in festivals, baka wala ako ngayon.”
JT’s documentaries were made when they were a student. The films are imbued with an ardent DIY attitude: shot on a phone, guerrilla-style, with JT having to wear different hats. Currently, they reside in Cebu, teaching photography at UP Cebu. It’s a full circle moment for them. Now, they are taking the chance to impart their principles to new batches of creatives, focusing on the process rather than the product.
“When I was a student, institutions weren’t that forgiving. School should be a place for them to be disciplined, of course, but also to process their mistakes and learn from (them),” JT said. “Kung hindi man sila makagawa ng magandang pelikula or photograph, malaman sana nila anong steps ang kailangang gawin moving forward. We should always question what is beautiful.”
Since its world premiere in Locarno, Honey, My Love, So Sweet has made it to other film festivals around the world, like Iceland, the United Kingdom, the United States, Thailand, Indonesia, China, and Switzerland. The film will come home here in the Philippines this November for the QCinema International Film Festival’s QCShorts International section. It will be a full-circle moment for JT, whose The River That Never Ends first premiered there.
As for JT’s future projects, a full feature fiction film is in development. They, however, are not closing the door to documentaries (at least two docus are also in the works). It is their goal to keep challenging themself in evolving their craft. There are multiple ways of telling stories, documentary or fiction notwithstanding.
