First Light

“When I was growing up, my mum very rarely spoke about her life in the Philippines,” says director James J. Robinson of the inspiration behind this film. “My only impression of her life before moving to Australia was formed exclusively through rare family photos and the music she’d sing out loud in her room.” Inang Maynila was inspired by the director’s desire to paint a picture of his mother’s childhood in Quezon City and, by extension, for an idea of his heritage. Robinson spoke to his mother’s school friends, visited her former school and church, and stayed in her local neighborhood. “Speaking to these lifelong friends of my hers, I discovered that the story of my mother’s childhood ran much deeper than that of one person,” says the director, who used local actors to recreate the narrated memories of these women.