Edjop comes home: Ateneo hosts final shoot of martial law biopic

On 12 October 2025, Ateneo de Manila University becomes the site of a rare convergence in Philippine cinema and institutional memory: a full-day reenactment of the First Quarter Storm rallies of 1970, staged by hundreds of Ateneans on the Loyola Heights campus.

The scenes are part of Edjop, an upcoming film about Edgardo “Edjop” Jopson, an Atenean who became one of the most recognizable figures of the Martial Law resistance. But beyond a film set, the campus becomes something else: a space of memory. Of return. Of reckoning.

“Welcoming Edjop and his story is, in many ways, a homecoming,” said University President Fr Bobby Yap SJ. “His life and work are not simple, and neither is his relationship with Ateneo. But remembering him now allows us to see how our paths remain intertwined. In honoring Edjop, we also honor the generation he belonged to, the choices they made for justice, and the truth that continues to call us forward.”

The project is a collaboration between Open Water Productions and Ateneo de Manila University, through the Ateneo Martial Law Museum and Library (AMLML) and the Department of Fine Arts, 

For director Katski Flores, who co-wrote the film with Jade Castro and co produced with Joyette Jopson, Edjop’s daughter, the decision to shoot the final scenes at Ateneo carries special weight.

“This is where his leadership was shaped, where his convictions took root, and where his story, in so many ways, began,” Flores said. “To shoot the climactic scenes here, with the Ateneo community itself helping us stage the rallies, is both an honor and a responsibility.”

“When my father was killed by Marcos’ soldiers during Martial Law, Ateneo allowed only a single day for his wake on campus,” said Joyette Jopson. “At the time, his presence was seen as dangerous. Today, Ateneo is opening its grounds not with fear, but with generosity. This partnership is an act of healing.”

The decision to bring the film’s final shoot to campus was made with care—and with conscience. After all, Edjop’s story is also Ateneo’s. While the film traces the life of a model student leader turned activist, it also asks harder questions about the institutions that shaped him, the faith that formed him, and how he chose to walk a different road. It is a story that holds a mirror to Ateneo—the ideals it teaches, and the cost of living them out.

“Edjop is more than a biographical film,” said Oliver Quintana, coordinator of AMLML. “It is a powerful educational tool that allows today’s youth to confront the truths of the Martial Law period with clarity and urgency. Bringing the shoot to campus is an act of remembrance—but also of formation.”

What makes the day historic is not the scale of the production—it’s the number of Ateneans invited to participate. The film’s final shoot brings together students, faculty, alumni, and volunteers to reenact the heat, confusion, and conviction of a moment that helped define a generation.

It is not only a cinematic milestone. It is also a gesture of reconciliation—and a moment of institutional reflection. In bringing this story to life on campus, Ateneo participates in an act of remembering that is both public and personal.

The questions Edjop asked then still echo now.

Over a thousand students and alumni are expected to take part. Sign up today at go.ateneo.edu/ATENEOxEDJOPsignup. Updates will be shared on @edjopthemovie and Ateneo channels.

Photos courtesy of @edjopthemovie