The drama film First Light has been selected as Australia's official submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards, or Oscars 2027.
Written and directed by James J. Robinson, the film is a Filipino-Australian co-production starring Ruby Ruiz, Rez Cortez, Maricel Soriano, and National Artist Kidlat Tahimik.
First Light tells the story of Sister Yolanda, a nun who lives quietly at a convent in northern Luzon and helps care for the sick and dying.
Her faith is tested when she suspects there is more to an incident that led to the death of a young man at a construction site.
Her curiosity sets her on a trail of corruption that reaches beyond the community’s wealthy elite and into the Church itself, forcing Sister Yolanda to question the very institution to which she has devoted her life.
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JAMES RECONNECTS TO HIS FILIPINO ROOTS
First Light is the first feature film of Melbourne-born Filipino-Australian photographer James J. Robinson.
The movie received principal production funding in 2023 from Screen Australia — the country's agency tasked with supporting, funding, and promoting local screen content — in association with the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) Premiere Fund, with additional financing support from the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and VicScreen.
"Regardless of how this turns out, I can make this an excuse to reconnect with my Filipino roots and reconnect myself with as much Tagalog as possible," James, who wrote the script in English before it was translated into Filipino, told Vogue.
First Light premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival in August 2025.
It was shown in Philippine cinemas in June 2026.
FIRST LIGHT'S JOURNEY TO THE OSCARS
Screen Australia organized a committee composed of industry professionals to select the country's submission to the Academy Awards.
The Best International Feature Film category states that a film must be made outside the United States to be eligible.
In addition, more than 50 percent of the film’s dialogue must be in a language other than English.
First Light marks Australia’s first Filipino-language submission for the Best International Feature Film category.
In total, the country has submitted 18 movies for the award throughout the years.
Australia had just one film nominated in the category: Bentley Dean and Martin Butler’s Tanna (2015).
No Australian film has won the award.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the 15 films shortlisted for Best International Feature on December 15.
The five nominees will be revealed on January 21, 2027, ahead of the 99th Academy Awards ceremony on March 14, 2027.
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