Private Project

Honey, My Love, So Sweet

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

  • JT Trinidad
    Director
  • JT Trinidad
    Writer
  • Alemberg Ang
    Producer
  • Earvic Noay
    Producer
  • EJ Gagui
    Producer
  • Jacob Alcala
    Producer
  • Jelsy Arcales
    Producer
  • Thom Sison
    Producer
  • Vien Geslani
    Producer
  • JT Trinidad
    Producer
  • Kian Co
    Key Cast
    "Life"
  • Marcus Timbas
    Key Cast
    "Gab"
  • Manuel Tinio
    Key Cast
    "Marco"
  • Mina Cruz
    Key Cast
    "Martha"
  • Rocky Morilla
    Director of Photography
  • Kukay Bautista Zinampan
    Production Designer
  • Shaine Robles
    Visual Effects Artists
  • Maria Estela Paiso
    Visual Effects Artists
  • Max Guanzon
    Music
  • Nicole Amores
    Sound
  • Daryl A. Libongco
    Sound
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Narrative, Coming-of-age, LGBTQ+
  • Runtime:
    20 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    August 4, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    35,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Philippines
  • Country of Filming:
    Philippines
  • Language:
    Tagalog
  • Shooting Format:
    2K Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.85:1
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - University of the Philippines
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Locarno Film Festival
    Locarno
    Switzerland
    August 6, 2025
    World Premiere
    Pardi di Domani
Distribution Information
  • InWave
    Sales Agent
    Country: France
    Rights: All Rights, Internet, Video on Demand, Pay Per View, Hotel, Airline, Ship, Theatrical, Video / Disc, Free TV, Paid TV, Console / Handheld Device
Director Biography - JT Trinidad

JT Trinidad (b. 2001) is a filmmaker based in Cebu, Philippines. They graduated summa cum laude and class valedictorian of the University of the Philippines Film Institute. They currently teach Photography at the University of the Philippines Cebu. JT’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 and the Student Award at the 18th JOGJA-NETPAC Asian Film Festival. The film eventually had its UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival. It is currently streaming on The Criterion Collection.

JT received the Ani ng Dangal award from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in 2024. They are an alumnus of ASEAN-ROK FLY Film Leaders Incubator (South Korea), Objectifs Film Incubator (Singapore), and the US-based nomadic film school Film Futura.

Their most recent work “Honey, My Love, So Sweet”, a coming-of-age story about a genderqueer child in a rundown cinema, will have its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival this August.

Add Director Biography
Director 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.