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Actress and director BB Gandanghari has released the first teaser for her upcoming film chronicling the life of Rene Baterbonia, the promising 18-year-old basketball player who died in a drowning incident earlier this year.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, November 7, Gandanghari shared a short video featuring a young boy wearing a basketball jersey bearing Baterbonia’s surname and the number 10.
“Where it all started 💯 #imJustAKidWithABigDream – Coming Soon,” she captioned the teaser.
The film will explore the journey of Baterbonia, a young athlete from Talacogon, Agusan del Sur, whose basketball career was cut short by his untimely death.
Senator Robin Padilla, Gandanghari’s brother, previously confirmed in September that the project was moving forward, with filmmakers from Mindanao collaborating on the production.
Despite alleged financial pressure surrounding the project, Padilla expressed his determination to bring Baterbonia’s story to the screen.
“We will not give up on telling Rene Baterbonia’s life story through film,” he declared.
Baterbonia and fellow Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles player Divine Adili, 21, died on June 8 after drowning during a team-building activity in Dipaculao, Aurora. A post-mortem examination identified Baterbonia’s cause of death as asphyxia by drowning.
Before joining Ateneo, Baterbonia had established himself as one of Mindanao’s rising basketball talents.
He helped the Davao Region capture the boys’ basketball gold medal at the 2025 Palarong Pambansa, where he was also named Most Valuable Player.
He also represented the Philippines at the 2025 ASEAN School Games in Brunei, contributing to the country’s basketball gold-medal finish.
While the film’s official title, cast, and release date have yet to be announced, Gandanghari’s teaser offers an early glimpse of a project intended to tell the story of Baterbonia’s life and basketball dreams.
