Sunshine, the Filipino coming-of-age drama directed by That Thing Called Tadhana director Antoinette Jadaone, has successfully been making the rounds on the international film festival circuit. However, the film has been surprisingly absent from Philippine cinemas. No local release date has been announced yet for Sunshine, and fans are wondering just when they’ll be able to see award-winning drama.
The film stars Incognito actress Maris Racal as a young gymnast named Sunshine who finds out she’s pregnant the week of national team tryouts. While trying to purchase illegal abortion pills, she meets a mysterious girl who talks like her, thinks like her, and challenges her to confront her difficult reality.
According to producer Bianca Balbuena, the Sunshine had good reason to delay the film’s Philippine release. “We wanted to premiere Sunshine in top festivals [around] the world to create noise and curiosity,” Balbuena told Rolling Stone Philippines. “Though a very local story, it deals with universal struggles a woman undergoes. Luckily, we bagged the Crystal Bear in Berlin and news outlets wrote about our win representing the country. It’s admittedly not your typical mainstream popcorn movie so we needed the noise for marketing.”
“We are targeting a mid-year theatrical release locally and we’re working on distribution in different territories,” shared Balbuena. “Filipinos have to watch it. It’s a long overdue conversation that we need to start igniting now.”
“It’s also time for Antoinette Jadaone to be recognized globally,” Balbuena added. “She is one of the very few filmmakers who can marry social commentary filmmaking into mass audience taste.”
On February 22, at the Berlin International Film Festival (or Berlinale for short), the film won the prestigious Crystal Bear Award for Best Film in the Generation 14plus section. In August 2024, Sunshine was the only Filipino film in the Toronto International Film Festival’s Centrepiece program, which featured films from 41 countries.
“It’s honestly a mix of disbelief and immense gratitude,” Jadaone told Rolling Stone Philippines. “Hindi ko talaga in-expect manalo, as in! I’m beyond thankful for the opportunity to share this story, and I feel so humbled by the reception.”
For Jadaone, she’s excited to see how Filipino audiences respond to Sunshine. “Sobrang sarap ma-recognize in international film festivals and to see people from diverse cultures moved and transformed by Sunshine,” shared Jadaone. “But there is no greater fulfillment than receiving the appreciation of fellow Filipinos. We created this film with them in mind, first and foremost, so the most meaningful reward will always be seeing Sunshine resonate deeply with our own people.”
