HONEY, MY LOVE, SO SWEET

HONEY, MY LOVE, SO SWEET
by JT Trinidad

20:00 MINUTES | Queer, Coming-of-age | R-13 | Nudity, Sex, PRIDE

CAST
Kian Co, Marcus Timbas, Manuel Tinio, Mina Cruz

PRODUCTION
DIRECTOR – JT Trinidad
SCREENPLAY – JT Trinidad
EDITOR – JT Trinidad
CINEMATOGRAPHER – Rocky Morilla
PRODUCTION DESIGNER – Kukay Bautista Zinampan
ORIGINAL MUSICAL SCORE – Max Guanzon
SOUND DESIGNERS – Nicole Amores, Daryl A. Libongco
PRODUCERS – Alemberg Ang, EJ Gagui, Earvic Noay, Jacob Alcala, Jelsy Arcales, Thom Sison, Vien Geslani, JT Trinidad

LOGLINE
In a decaying cinema in the heart of Manila, Life discovers first love through films and their new friend’s father.

SYNOPSIS
In 2000s Manila, an androgynous kid named Life and their mother arrive at an old cinema facing demolition, where Life forms a close friendship with Gab, the projectionist’s son. As Gab navigates love in Life’s presence, Life develops a strange fascination with Gab’s father.

FILMMAKER’S PROFILE
JT Trinidad is a filmmaker based in Cebu, Philippines. They graduated summa cum laude and Class Valedictorian at the University of the Philippines – Diliman, College of Mass Communication, in 2024. They currently teach Communication at the University of the Philippines – Cebu.

Trinidad’s works explore the intersection of queerness and geographical tensions, with a special interest in landscapes as transforming and transformative spaces. Their narrative short the river that never ends – about a trans woman care worker – won Best Southeast Asian Short Film at the 34th Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) and the Student Award at the 18th Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival (JAFF). The film also had its UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival. It is currently streaming on The Criterion Collection.

Trinidad received the Ani ng Dangal award from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) in 2024. Their graduation film Honey, My Love, So Sweet – a coming-of-age story about a genderqueer child in a rundown cinema – premiered at the Locarno Film Festival. Later, the film won Best Short Film at the QCinema International Film Festival.

An alumnus of Ricky Lee’s Screenwriting Workshop, Mowelfund Film Institute, Objectifs Film Incubator and the US-based nomadic film school Film Futura, Trinidad envisions using cinema to organize communities.

They have likewise contributed writings and photographs to the Philippine Collegian. Their film essays and reviews have been published in Sine Liwanag, Sinegang.ph, Sinekultura, and Kino Punch. Their photographs have been exhibited at Orange Project, UP Fine Arts Gallery, BenCab Museum, and ArtFair PH.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
I was innocent but never naive. In a cruel exploration of my identity, I have found comfort in cinema. Through moving pictures, I understood and accepted myself. Through complex characterizations of villains, I was able to understand and forgive the people who hurt and bullied me.

Yet as a child, it was difficult to see myself in the movies. Kids in the movies are wholesome yet dumb, and I was the opposite: angry yet mindful. Maybe it is because adults have mistranslated innocence to naivety.

While innocence is pure, it is never deprived of truth. Innocence is a state where we are most conscious, a time where we are most resisting – a period where resistance is welcomed and never denied. Honey, My Love, So Sweet attempts to paint a portrait of a child’s heartbreak – a heartbreak that’s meant to change one’s life, whether it be for the better or worse.

Through the collective memory of Life’s self-navigation within vanishing spaces and Gab’s attempt to find home amidst spaces that reject their existence. I aim to transform the cinema into a reimagined community where care is a priority. Like Life, kids are innocent but never ignorant. Childhood is a place where fear is transformed, where wrongs are questioned, and where lies are rejected. Kids do feel. Kids do cry. Kids do hurt… just like us.