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.

- By JOKER MANIO

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,