Antoinette Jadaone’s Ilaya Ilaya Launch Brings Philippine Cinema Together

MAKATI CITY, Philippines — Thinking of the future of Philippine cinema? For one evening in Makati, much of the industry gathered in the same room to imagine it together.

Acclaimed filmmaker Antoinette Jadaone with long-time collaborator and producer Reign Anne de Guzman marked the launch of their new production banner, Ilaya Ilaya Studios, on Saturday, September 26, by assembling industry heavyweights in one room to chart what’s next for local cinema. 

But what could have been a conventional company unveiling grew into something larger: a rare gathering of filmmakers, artists, executives, educators, and audiences confronting the possibilities and persistent problems facing Philippine cinema.

In a rare feat, executives and artists from ABS-CBN, Star Cinema, GMA, TV5, Viva Films, Regal Entertainment, Netflix Philippines and various independent film studios and filmmakers brushed elbows to welcome Philippine cinema’s latest film production company inside an intimate Makati art space.

The launch also brought together a cross-generational panel of film icons to discuss the future of the industry. Moderated by TV host and cinephile Bianca Gonzalez, the panel featured arthouse auteur Lav Diaz, independent filmmaker and educator Sari Dalena, ABS-CBN Films head Kriz Gazmen, award-winning young director Gabriela Serrano, and content creator and actress Yani Villarosa.

“The face of Philippine cinema is male: Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal, Mike De Leon, Lav Diaz,” Dalena said. “Therefore, the future of Philippine cinema is female.”

Ilaya Ilaya’s inaugural slate takes that future seriously.

The studio is launching with an unapologetically women-led slate for 2027. Gawad Urian winner Pam Miras directs Ilaya Ilaya’s first project, found-footage horror Birdsong, while blockbuster director Irene Emma Villamor helms the coming-of-age whodunit Crème de la Crème. Jadaone herself directs Boldstar, a dark comedy starring her That Thing Called Tadhana and The Kangks Show muse Angelica Panganiban. Comedy queen Eugene Domingo also headlines Tim Rone Villanueva’s supernatural comedy Chandra Catacutan and the Curse of the Fuchsia Moon, and Gawad Urian Best Actress nominee Maris Racal reprises her titular role in an immersive stage adaptation of Jadaone’s Berlinale-acclaimed sports drama Sunshine.

A moniker fitting to its literal translation, Ilaya Ilaya seeks to swim “upstream” against familiar industry conventions by championing underappreciated voices, Jadaone said.

“Ilaya Ilaya is a women-led studio built on genuine love for Filipino stories and the belief that Filipino audiences can fall in love with Philippine cinema again,” she explained. 

For an exclusive look at this vision, the creators of Birdsong—director Miras, lead actress Kaila Estrada, co-producers Jadaone and Villamor, and multiple Gawad Urian Award-winning production designer Eero Yves Francisco—took the stage to unpack their upcoming project. The film, written by Glenn Barit, follows Estrada as an ornithologist who travels to a remote mountain in search of a mythical bird, while also seeking closure over her partner’s disappearance a decade ago.

Miras noted the found-footage horror’s timeliness amid the grim realities of environmental defenders in the country. 

“Hindi lang siya ‘yung typical na horror na matatakot tayo dahil may multo (It’s not the typical horror film that scares you because there are ghosts),” she said. “It’s real-world horror.”

Taking on her first major film lead, Estrada called the project a massive step outside her comfort zone. “It’s a different world. This film makes us realize how important it is to respect nature.”

Francisco added that shooting in an unpredictable, protected forest environment meant translating the film's themes into the raw visual language of nature.

An Upstream Battle 

Still, getting such bold stories to the big screen means clearing the systemic roadblocks hounding the industry.

Dalena called for filmmakers’ freedom from censorship, while Serrano advocated for sustainable solutions to funding issues in independent filmmaking, where delayed grant releases often force directors to advance crew salaries out of pocket. 

Diaz advocated for film worker unions and laws protecting the industry. “I-reclaim natin 'yung kaluluwa natin, 'yung kaluluwa ng bayan, 'yung kaluluwa ng pelikulang Pilipino (Let us reclaim our soul, the soul of the nation, the soul of Philippine cinema),” he said.

But audiences themselves are also shifting.

Gazmen pointed to the steep structural barriers to filmgoing. To pull viewers from their homes and through punishing traffic to reach the theaters, he said, a movie must now function as an urgent, unmissable event.

Villarosa echoed this, saying mounting economic strain has driven film discovery almost entirely online. “Hindi tayo makakapag-engage sa sining freely kung wala tayong means to do so (We cannot engage with art freely if we don't have the means to do so).”

Ilaya Ilaya’s strategy is to adapt to these fractured viewing habits and meet audiences where they are. Beyond theatrical releases, the studio is also producing an as-yet-unnamed romcom series that marks Netflix Philippines’ first.

Where Philippine cinema is headed may be an upstream battle, but that’s exactly where Ilaya Ilaya belongs.

“Because the future of cinema is Filipino,” Jadaone said. “And Filipina.”

Follow Ilaya Ilaya Studios on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for official release dates and updates on its 2027 slate.