Cover A scene from ‘Edjop’ (Image: courtesy of Open Water Productions and Mad Goats Pictures in association with Narra Post-Production Studios)
A scene from ‘Edjop’ (Image: courtesy of Open Water Productions and Mad Goats Pictures in association with Narra Post-Production Studios)
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Confronting the chilling cost of activism and the painful legacy left to a fractured family, ‘Edjop’ (2026) humanises the revered revolutionary from the Martial Law regime (Warning: spoilers ahead)
In the biting, negative-five-degree expanse of the Arctic, a woman pushes her body to the absolute limit. She is Scarlet Victoria “Joyette” Jopson, an elite Filipina triathlete battling the punishing conditions of the 2019 North Pole Marathon. But she is not just running a race; she is running alongside the ghost of a father she never truly knew.
Her father was Edgar Jopson, famously known as Edjop, a student leader from the upper middle class turned underground revolutionary and was killed by the military in 1982 when Joyette was just three years old. This jarring juxtaposition between a daughter’s present-day physical endurance and a father’s historical sacrifice forms the emotional core of Edjop, a sweeping biopic that premiered in cinemas nationwide last September 16. It is a brilliant cinematic choice—a parallel filled with complexities. Parallel lines are not supposed to meet, and yet, in this narrative, they do.
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Above Elijah Canlas in a scene from ‘Edjop’ (Image: courtesy of Open Water Productions and Mad Goats Pictures in association with Narra Post-Production Studios)
Elijah Canlas in a scene from ‘Edjop’ (Image: courtesy of Open Water Productions and Mad Goats Pictures in association with Narra Post-Production Studios)
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Bringing such a monumental figure to life required a fearless performance. Award-winning actor Elijah Canlas actively pursued the titular role of Edjop. Initially offered the part of the student activist in his younger days at the Ateneo, Canlas insisted on reading the full script and eventually convinced the directors to let him also play the older, revolutionary Edjop.
“It’s like a dream come true for me,” Canlas shared. “Bilang alagad ng sining, bilang aktor, pangarap kong magkawa na mga material, makapagkuwento ng mga kuwento na makabuluhan, na that mattered to me as well, whether personally, socially or politically [As a servant of the arts, as an actor, it is my dream to work on materials, to tell stories that are meaningful, that mattered to me as well, whether personally, socially or politically].”
Above A scene from ‘Edjop’ (Image: courtesy of Open Water Productions and Mad Goats Pictures in association with Narra Post-Production Studios)
A scene from ‘Edjop’ (Image: courtesy of Open Water Productions and Mad Goats Pictures in association with Narra Post-Production Studios)
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Opposite him is Jodi Sta Maria, who portrays the adult Joyette. Sta Maria admitted she was initially drawn to the project because of the physical challenge of playing an elite triathlete, unaware of the historical weight she was about to shoulder.
“Sino yung Edjop? [Who is Edjop?]” she recalled asking when the film was pitched. However, diving into the script revealed the magnitude of his contributions. “Kasi, noong binasa ko yung script, doon ko lang narealise na napakalaki pala nung naging contribution niya. And at the same time, na ano pala siya, OG siya sa UG [Because, when I read the script, that was when I realised that his contribution was huge. And at the same time, he was an OG (old guard) in the UG (underground)].”
The ensemble cast further amplifies the film’s emotional resonance, capturing the personal relationships that tethered Edjop to his humanity. A standout performance belongs to Cedrick Juan. As the eldest son of Edjop, he has limited screen time, but his scenes are vital to Joyette’s growth and sear into the emotional core of the film—a young father striving for a better future for his child.
Above Elijah Canlas and Kakie Pangilinan, behind the scenes of ‘Edjop’ (Image: courtesy of Katski Flores)
Elijah Canlas and Kakie Pangilinan, behind the scenes of ‘Edjop’ (Image: courtesy of Katski Flores)
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Kakie Pangilinan, making her cinematic debut as the young version of Edjop’s wife Joy, felt a heavy sense of responsibility. Having been gifted Benjamin Pimentel’s biography of Edjop, UG, for her 16th birthday, Pangilinan cared deeply for the source material. She found unexpected challenges not in the heavy drama, but in the lighter romantic moments. During her first kissing scene, when Canlas was instructed to boop her nose, she recalled feeling incredibly self-conscious. Pangilinan noted that after Canlas opened up to her behind the scenes, he quickly became a wonderful friend on set.
Many of the cast members, like Canlas, come from the theatre industry. Nour Hooshmand, playing Edjop’s sister Sucel, navigated her own unique challenges, balancing intense emotion with the technical realities of filmmaking. In one crucial confrontation scene with Canlas, camera angles prevented them from making actual eye contact but had to rely on looking at each other’s ears. Hooshmand recalled, explaining how they laughed through the setup before immediately locking into the heavy emotion of the take.
Meanwhile, theatre veteran Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo plays the older Joy Jopson as she battles early-onset dementia. Used to the chronological rehearsals of theatre, Lauchengco-Yulo found the fragmented nature of film acting difficult, often having to project immense internal grief with very little dialogue.
“[Director Katski Flores] would give me a lot of liberties. Like she’d let the camera just roll, and she’d just cut it when she felt she had what she wanted because it was a lot of internal [emotions], which is hard to get into,” she explained.
Above A scene from ‘Edjop’ (Image: courtesy of Open Water Productions and Mad Goats Pictures in association with Narra Post-Production Studios)
A scene from ‘Edjop’ (Image: courtesy of Open Water Productions and Mad Goats Pictures in association with Narra Post-Production Studios)
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This meticulous, fragmented shooting was symptomatic of an exhaustive five-year production journey. Begun in 2021 when the political climate made historical projects risky to mount, the film faced numerous hurdles, from actors fearing being red-tagged to continuous script overhauls. Co-writer Jade Castro even faced unlawful arrest during the film’s second leg of shooting. Director Flores, stepping in to co-write and manage production, described herself as the “tao sa tindahan” (the “full-time manning the store”), the one constant presence as crew members filtered in and out over the half-decade.
Given the intense scrutiny surrounding historical narratives, the question of truth versus artistic licence is paramount. When asked by Tatler about the veracity of Edjop’s dialogue, the filmmakers were candid. Castro confirmed that while some scenes, like Jopson confronting Ferdinand Marcos Sr (portrayed by journalist Christian Esguerra), were lifted directly from recorded history, others had to be imagined. Flores clarified this delicate balance: “Edjop is not a documentary, but it’s also not historical fiction. Maybe, the space is in between.”
She noted that while a specific meeting between Edjop and the Supremo regarding Mindanao was imagined, it was fiercely rooted in the essence of their historical connection, leaving Flores to cut the Supremo’s name from the film for the character to remain ambiguous and resonant with many possible personalities.
Above Jodi Sta Maria in a scene from ‘Edjop’ (Image: courtesy of Open Water Productions and Mad Goats Pictures in association with Narra Post-Production Studios)
Jodi Sta Maria in a scene from ‘Edjop’ (Image: courtesy of Open Water Productions and Mad Goats Pictures in association with Narra Post-Production Studios)
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For executive producer Joyette herself, the film was a deeply personal confrontation with her past. “Marami akong bubog as a daughter [I have a lot of emotional baggage as a daughter],” she admitted during the press conference. “I was three when my father was killed... So for a long time, I hated activism.” She longed for a normal life away from history books and newsreels, yet working on this film alongside Flores became her way of coming to terms with her family’s history.
In what many describes as a “post-truth era”, the film acts as a vital tool against extreme disinformation and the normalisation of human rights violations.
“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,” Flores stated, underscoring the film’s urgency. “The past is coming because we have not learned from our past, and the reason we haven’t learned from our past is because we don’t have enough people showing up mirrors with every generation.”
When asked if there are still “Edjops” today, the team was resolute. Activism, they noted, doesn’t always require taking to the mountains. “When you call out something or somebody in your circle for doing something that you think is wrong... when you’re not afraid of being cancelled, when you’re not afraid to sacrifice something valuable for you for the sake of saying something right,” Flores explained, identifying that everyday courage as the modern spirit of Edjop.
Above Cedrick Juan and Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo in a scene from ‘Edjop’ (Image: courtesy of Open Water Productions and Mad Goats Pictures in association with Narra Post-Production Studios)
Cedrick Juan and Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo in a scene from ‘Edjop’ (Image: courtesy of Open Water Productions and Mad Goats Pictures in association with Narra Post-Production Studios)
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Sta Maria echoed this urgency, quoting author Paulo Coelho to sum up the film’s necessity: “Repeated experiences have but one aim: to teach us things we refused to learn.”
As Flores powerfully concluded, “Staying on the sidelines and being neutral is not a flex.” Edjop ultimately succeeds not just as a historical record, but as a stirring challenge to the modern Filipino: to never look away, to honour the truth and to remember that the fight for a better world is an inheritance we cannot afford to squander.
The film’s most impactful scene arrives at the very end. We see Joyette running at the Jopson’s estate—a direct reference to how the film began. But here, she is renewed. She understands her family better and is ready to take a more active role in keeping the memory of her father alive.
As the credits roll on Edjop, the audience is left to wrestle with the uncomfortable reality of sacrifice. It effectively reminds us how remarkable and adamant the Filipino youth are in fighting for what they believe is right, for their future. At the same time, it shows the stark dangers that kind of life entails. It is not for the faint-hearted, and the film does not shy away from the harsh realities to sugarcoat activism. Edjop ultimately succeeds not just as a historical record, but as a stirring challenge to the modern Filipino: to never look away, to honour the truth, and to remember that the fight for a better world is an inheritance we cannot afford to squander.
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Franz writes about the local cultural scene and rediscovering the country’s storied past and rich heritage. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Santo Tomas and is currently pursuing a master's degree in Art Studies at the University of the Philippines Diliman. Besides working on this luxury lifestyle magazine, Franz is an avid book reader, local traveller, museum-goer, chorister, and community theatre playwright. But above all this, this Aether main spends more time in Teyvat than anywhere else.
