Before ‘‘EDJOP’’ reaches cinemas nationwide, its story first returned to where much of its subject’s political journey began: the campus.
The film, which follows the life of student leader and activist Edgar “Edjop” Jopson, kicked off its campus conversation tour in Cebu, bringing director Katski Flores, lead actor Elijah Canlas and Frankie “Kakie” Pangilinan to Southwestern University Phinma on Aug. 26, 2026.
For Flores, Cebu was a deliberate choice. “During our initial talks, Cebu is kind of like a heartbeat of the country when it comes to politics and social issues,” Flores said.
She described the province’s influence as something that can travel far beyond its geographic size.
“Its influence, its resonance, even though it’s relatively small, has a huge ripple effect. Where Cebu goes, the rest of the country follows.”
That was enough reason for Cebu to sit at the top of her list. “I think I have to agree, even in the history of releasing films. You can’t have a hit film, a film can’t spread, if it isn’t released and picked up by Cebu. I don’t know why. I can’t explain it. Cebu is just powerful.”
The choice also fits the spirit of ‘‘EDJOP’’ itself. Rather than relying solely on conventional promotions, the filmmakers opted for a more grassroots approach. With a limited budget, Flores said the team had to ask how they could make a campaign that was creative and impactful without depending on the usual machinery of film marketing.
The answer was to take the conversation directly to universities. The idea, Flores explained, was inspired by Edjop himself.
As a student leader and former president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines, Edjop campaigned across universities for the organization’s presidency. The filmmakers saw an opportunity to echo that approach by bringing “EDJOP” from campus to campus.
“It’s inspired by Edjop himself. He campaigned across the whole country, in all the universities, to become president of NUSP. We’ll do the same.”
The campaign therefore becomes more than a way to sell tickets. It gives the film an opportunity to meet the audience it considers most important: students.
After Cebu, the team was set to continue to Zamboanga before moving on to campuses in Luzon.
For Flores, the response in Cebu already showed why the approach mattered.
“The conversation was so energized, so engaged. It’s the best outcome that we hoped for,” she said.
That distinction matters for a film like “EDJOP,” which deals with a period of Philippine history that can easily become distant when reduced to dates, names and textbook accounts.
At the center of Flores’ approach is a person rather than simply a historical figure: a young man whose political consciousness developed over time and whose decisions eventually took him far from the comfortable life he could have chosen.
For Canlas, that complexity was part of what made the role worth taking.
His initial offer was only to portray the younger Edjop during his high school years. But after receiving only a handful of scenes, Canlas asked to read the entire screenplay.
“I don’t really accept the role if I can’t read the whole script,” he recalled.
When he finally read it, he was drawn to the material and even stepped up to portray the older Edjop if the production could not find someone else.
The problem was that Flores initially thought he was too young.
Canlas eventually underwent a screen test in 2023, including prosthetics to age him for the older scenes. Flores was the last person on the team to be convinced.
Then she saw him. “He looked eerily familiar to Edjop’s mugshot,” she recalled. That changed her mind.
For Flores, Canlas had something else that mattered just as much: the willingness to take on the role without worrying too much about how it might affect his career.
“I needed someone who would step into the role without any hesitation, without any fear, in a good way,” Flores said.
She admired that Canlas seemed less concerned about whether the film would make him gain or lose fans than whether he was doing the work he believed in.
“He’s really just an artist about it and his convictions. I wish more actors of his generation would have that kind of attitude.”
Canlas said his approach to choosing projects is guided by two things: whether a role challenges him and whether it carries personal, social or political meaning.
His training as an actor also shaped that outlook. “When we make art, we try to make it purposeful. This has meaning for us. We’re going to reach someone, we’re going to affect someone.”
That sense of purpose also appears in Pangilinan’s decision to make her acting debut with “EDJOP.”
Known as a singer-songwriter, Pangilinan plays young Joy Jopson, Edjop’s wife. Unlike Canlas, she had never planned on making acting her professional path.
“I was kind of scared because this is my first film. I did not think I would be acting,” she said.
What made the invitation different was that Edjop was already familiar to her.
For her 16th birthday, Pangilinan received a copy from her father, Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, of Benjamin Pimentel’s «UG: An Underground Tale: The Life and Struggle of Edgar Jopson.» She had read the book before Flores approached her.
That existing interest helped her accept the role.
“I think my interest in Edjop was itself a service to the role. My interest in him came before the project,” she said.
Pangilinan knew she could not simply reproduce the person she was portraying. Instead, she wanted to capture her essence.
That became particularly important when she met Joy, the real woman she portrays.
Pangilinan said Joy, who is now living with dementia, had to introduce herself several times during their conversations.
But what stayed with her was Joy’s gentleness. “She has such tenderness to her. Her strength,” Pangilinan said.
Pangilinan described herself and Joy as almost opposites. She grew up more tomboyish, while the older Joy struck her as gentle and tender.
The challenge, then, was not to imitate her but to understand what made her who she was.
“Playing a real person is totally different. I’m just trying to contribute what I can to get the essence.”
That same idea runs through EDJOP’s campus rollout. And for a movie inspired by a young man who once went from campus to campus to speak to students, there may be no more fitting way to begin.
Five years in the making, ‘‘EDJOP’’ is finally set to hit cinemas nationwide on Sept. 16. The film follows the life and political awakening of student leader and activist Edgar “Edjop” Jopson, tracing his journey from campus organizing to becoming one of the most prominent activists during the Marcos dictatorship. Helping bring his story to the screen is his daughter, Joyette, who serves as one of the film’s producers.