After five years of production, the biopic about Filipino revolutionary Edgar Jopson, known as Edjop, is finally set to hit theaters on September 16.
“I don’t think I can ever do something like Edjop ever again,” director Katski Flores tells Rolling Stone Philippines during the press preview and media conference for Edjop on September 3.
It was a “labor of love,” Flores said. She was essentially the film’s director, writer, and executive producer, while remaining entirely involved in the whole process. She co-wrote Edjop with Jade Castro and co-produced it with Edjop’s daughter, Joyette Jopson. But ultimately, the director said making the film was never simply about depicting or recreating the life of a historical figure, but also about confronting the country’s increasingly fragile relationship with its past.
Flores said that when Edjop was being pitched at fundraising events, she framed the film as not particularly “historically confrontational,” but as a story of reckoning with the past through Jopson’s life and activism under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr, the father of current President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. “I’m not even confronting the present administration. It’s a reckoning with the past which is coming for us, and it’s already here,” she stresses.
When asked by the media how biopics like Edjop can be effective in the current age, Flores said that one reason why the Filipinos are forgetting about history is the lack of stories that allow each generation to truly confront or understand what happened. “So ‘yung mga ganito, ‘yung Edjop, ito ‘yung ambag ko bilang kung ano man ‘yung talent ang binigay sa akin. Ito ‘yung ambag ko to stand up against this current tide of extreme disinformation.”
The biopic does not tell solely of Jopson’s story, but also of his family, particularly his wife, Joy Jopson, who now lives with dementia, and their daughter Joyette, who plays a pivotal role in the film.
“I feel like Joy Asuncion Jopson-Kintana’s story is the story of the Philippines,” says Flores. “We’re struggling to remember, and we’re losing the battle, and we need help to win the battle to remember, to always remember.” Flores hopes Edjop can be one of the sources of media that help people remember. She further calls for more literature, plays, films, and TV shows that tackle historical stories for the next generation.
For Elijah Canlas, who plays Edgar Jopson, preparing for the role and making the revolutionary figure more human was one of the challenging parts. “Kasi sobrang laki niyang figure. And ‘yung legacy niya. I mean, if you read the book, parang wala kang makitang flaw sa tao na ito. Parang napakamarangal at mabuti siyang tao at sinakripisyo niya ang lahat.” Canlas wanted to move beyond that image and also explore Edjop’s struggles and imperfections. “Dito sa pelikula, gusto namin siyang gawing tao, na he’s not larger than life,” the actor tells Rolling Stone Philippines.
That process of humanizing Jopson also made the role particularly personal for Canlas, who was also a student activist early in his life. “It’s like a dream come true for me,” Canlas says. He added that as an actor, he always dreamt of crafting material and telling meaningful stories that matter, whether personally, socially, or politically.
And if Edjop were alive today, Canlas believes that he would not be hopeless and would continue to fight regardless. Responding to a question during the conference, the actor says, “Kahit ngayon na, nandito tayo sa panahon na medyo magulo, medyo chaotic ‘yung political and social landscape natin, feeling ko mas lalo nga siyang ma-mo-motivate na ipaglaban at gawin ‘yung kung ano ‘yung tingin niyang tama.”
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Edgar Jopson, or Edjop, was a Filipino student leader who organized against the Marcos Sr. dictatorship during martial law, remembered as one of the era’s most prominent activists.
Edjop is a biopic on activist Edgar Jopson, directed by Katski Flores, premiering September 16. It also follows his wife Joy and daughter Joyette Jopson.
Katski Flores made Edjop after five years of production, calling it a reckoning with the past and her contribution to countering historical disinformation in the Philippines.
Elijah Canlas plays Edgar Jopson in Edjop. A former student activist, he focused on humanizing Jopson beyond his revered image, showing his flaws rather than a flawless legend.
Edjop premieres in Philippine theaters on September 16, following five years of production led by director Katski Flores, who also wrote and produced the film.
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