Australia’s Oscar Bet Is First Light

A Tagalog-language debut set in a Luzon convent is Australia's pick for the 2027 international feature Oscar. New Zealand has not named an entry.

By Catherine Crowe October 11, 2026 4 min read

Photo: Sydney Film Festival

Australia’s bid for next year’s international feature Oscar is a quiet debut about a nun, filmed in the mountains of the Philippines and spoken almost entirely in Tagalog. James J. Robinson’s First Light is the country’s official entry for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards, its Australian and New Zealand distributor, Bonsai Films, announced on 11 September.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand has not named a film. The New Zealand Film Commission‘s submission page sets out the process and the deadlines for this cycle but lists no selection, and the Academy’s cut-off for official entries passed on 30 September.

Why First Light is a first

Bonsai Films calls it “the first-ever Filipino-Australian co-production” and “the first Tagalog-language film ever submitted by Australia for the Oscars.” That is less of a contradiction than it sounds. The Academy’s international category is defined by language, not by country of origin: a submission must be mostly in a language other than English, so an English-speaking country’s entry will often be made in another tongue.

Desk to view and describe: 16:9 First Light image from Apple TV's Australian title page, possibly artwork with title text — In pictures 1

The story follows Sister Yolanda, played by Ruby Ruiz, a nun in a mountain convent in northern Luzon who volunteers at the local hospital. After giving last rites to a young man killed in a construction accident, she begins to suspect foul play, and her questions lead to corruption among the town’s wealthy elite and inside her own Church, according to the Sydney Film Festival‘s programme notes. Maricel Soriano, Rez Cortez, Soliman Cruz and Kidlat Tahimik also appear.

Robinson wrote and directed. Screen Australia announced the film as it began shooting in April 2024, naming Gabrielle Pearson of Majella Productions, Christelle Dychangco of Clou Media Productions and Jane Pe Aguirre as producers. Screen Australia provided principal production funding in association with the MIFF Premiere Fund, with support from the Film Development Council of the Philippines, Clou Media Productions and VicScreen. At the time, Robinson described the project as “an incredibly profound journey into the heart of pre-colonial Filipino philosophy.”

The festival record so far

First Light premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2025, where Robinson won the Blackmagic Design Best Australian Director Award, a prize MIFF lists as carrying A$50,000 in cash and a camera package valued at A$27,500. It screened at International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2026, Screen Australia’s awards register shows, and played the Sydney Film Festival in June. The film runs 118 minutes.

Screen Australia’s website notes that it has a role in selecting Australia’s Academy Awards submissions. The selection is only a first step: the Academy decides eligibility, and every country’s entry competes for a place on a 15-film shortlist.

New Zealand’s process

The NZFC runs New Zealand’s selection through a committee of at least five people, most of them working film artists or craftspeople. The Academy must approve the members, whose names are not published, and anyone with a professional link to a film under consideration steps out of that assessment. For this cycle, the committee’s details were due to the Academy on 14 August and submissions on 30 September. The NZFC’s page names no 2027 entry.

The dates that decide it

The Academy announces its shortlists on Tuesday 15 December. Nominations voting runs from 11 to 15 January, and nominations are announced on Thursday 21 January. The 99th Oscars are held on Sunday 14 March, which is Monday 15 March in Australia and New Zealand.

Where to watch

First Light, Apple TV, AU and NZ: title page live on the Apple TV app; rental and purchase details not yet listed.
First Light trailer, Bonsai Films’ official YouTube channel: available now.

Sources

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