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Filipino-Australian filmmaker James J. Robinson has been making headlines for taking his debut feature, First Light to the International Film Festival Rotterdam. The film brings to the viewers the story of an elderly nun who has multiple tough moral questions to combat in the Philippines. It also delves deeper into crucial themes such as colonialism, faith, institutional corruption among others. For the unversed, the film – which features Ruby Ruiz and Kare Adea in key roles – had premiered at 2025 Melbourne International Film Festival. Ruby essays the role of Sister Yolanda – a nun whose life undergoes a drastic change when a young construction worker dies in suspicious circumstances. The shocking incident pushes her to question the church and the community she had served for decades. Excerpts from an interview…
First Light marks your feature directorial debut. Clearly it is an important milestone that comes with significant responsibility and expectations. How are you navigating this both professionally and personally?
It’s a funny feeling. I think there’s a lot of pressure on the first film. And for a long time, it was a pressure of trying to make everything absolutely perfect. And then at a certain point, I think I zoomed out a little bit and considered that I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m going to have a lifelong career in this’. What’s more important for this film is just to be learning and to approach it in an open-minded manner. Since it is my first film, there was a lot of pressure on me to make sure that I was speaking with an honest voice of an author. But for the most part, I approached it with an open mind and knew I’m here to learn.
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This isn’t the only film I’d make. So I just needed to approach it like a disciple to this medium. Honestly speaking, I’ve spent many, many years trying to eventually write something that I felt was worth telling in such a grand way. So yes, it has been a very beautiful process.
The film recently had a European premiere at International Film Festival Rotterdam, which is a massive milestone. With a diverse and international audience, the film will now be exposed to a massive range of viewers. What sort of reactions are you anticipating? Are there any particular markets you are considering? Do you see India as a strong market for a project like this?
Yeah, absolutely. The story is hyper-specific to the Philippines and the setting. But while I was writing the story, I had to think about what I could bring to the world of cinema and storytelling through my background – which is half Australian and half Filipino, rather than having that as a disadvantage to storytelling and being that I don’t have the full meaning of what it means to always be in the Philippines. What it does mean is that I can approach what I know about the Philippines from a universal angle.
I think that’s something that translates across all kinds of national borders. The commentary – that I was trying to unpack about religion and morality and how those things can be co-opted by people in power – is special. It has proven to me so far in all of our premieres that it is a lesson that is universal. In Rotterdam, the response has been incredible. It’s been a lot more about the metaphor and the meaning of filmmaking. When we were in Morocco, there were so many questions about morality and what it means to be religious. I think it’s a story that translates everywhere.
When it comes to South Asia, one of my favorite films in recent years has been All We Imagine Is Life. And I think about how all of these films and how a film like that can resonate. It’s so specific to Mumbai – where they shot it.
It’s like I could feel like the stories that they were telling, I could feel Payal, it really translated even to me as the audience in Australia. If we say something that’s universal, that is deeper about what it means to be human, then it doesn’t matter where we’re premiering the film or where their audiences are gonna be because what it means to be human is something that we question everywhere around the world.
You just mentioned Mumbai. Do you have any particularly special or unforgettable experiences that you’d like to share with your fans in India?
I mean, there is so much about the history of spirituality when it comes to India and that region of the world. I think there is so much about meditation in a way that is embedded naturally in the history of India and in that region of the world. There is knowledge systems from India that to this day continue to be the most important things for us to know about, like being human. When I was making this film too there was a lot about meditation and about slowing down. And I think spirituality – when it combines the mind and the body and in the slowness and knowing that the universe exists inside of us when we slow down and think – exists in the history of India. I feel so much of that then colors naturally the way I direct my films.
What have been the most crucial lessons or key takeaways for you as a filmmaker while directing First Light?
The function of storytelling isn’t always to answer grand questions about what it means to be human. It is to ask those questions. So when I was writing this film, I asked myself a lot of questions about how I hold on to a sense of faith in a world where faith is being co-opted all around the world for very oppressive power structures. How can I still hold on to a faith and a relationship to the land despite all of that? While making this film and bringing up those questions, I was forced to dig quite deep inside myself about that. One of the biggest takeaways of making this film is, I guess when you’re trying to tell a story like this, you actually have to surrender or control.
Like I’ve got a camera there and I’ve got actors and I’ve got lighting. At the end of the day, we are at the whim of the weather that we’re going to have the day. We’re at the whim of the mood that people are going to wake up with. My biggest takeaway was honestly surrendering and learning how to create something when you’re not fully in control. As a director, I like to think that I’m in control of everything. But as a human, I can never be. I surrendered to the process of filmmaking and tried to make a story with what I was given, not with what I can force.
First Light also features Ruby and Keg in prominent roles. Could you walk us through your casting process? What were you looking for before you even narrated the script to them and got their nod?
I thought as much as possible while writing the character of Sister Yolanda. I didn’t know specifically what I wanted her to look like. And then I came across a video of Ruby Ruiz as she won an award in the Philippines at a festival called Cinemalaya. There was something about her face and her composure and the way that she held herself that I knew would just add infinite dimensions to this character of Sister Yolanda. So, yes, I think it was honestly finding her from YouTube videos. I had heard stories of Lulu Wang directing her in Expats, an Amazon series opposite Nicole Kidman. I also heard that Ruby was bringing food to set every day, and that left an impact. And so rather than trying to write these characters that I was going to force and try and bring my actors towards, I wanted to write characters that I could have made as broad enough as possible. When I cast my actors, I want to bring their characteristics, their mannerisms, their own person into the characters they have to essay. And Ruby, I think, naturally possessed several qualities that I saw in Sister Yolanda. Casting her allowed to add complexity to that role.
