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Filipino Filmmaker Antoinette Jadaone Launches Ilaya Ilaya
Confirmed
In Short: Filipino filmmaker and producer Antoinette Jadaone, known for her Berlinale award-winning film 'Sunshine,' is launching a new production outfit called Ilaya Ilaya. The company will focus on genre films, television originals, and immersive theatre.
Filipino filmmaker and producer Antoinette Jadaone, known for her Berlinale award-winning film 'Sunshine,' is launching a new production outfit called Ilaya Ilaya. The company will focus on genre films, television originals, and immersive theatre.
Jadaone will run the company alongside longtime collaborator and producer Reign Anne De Guzman, who has worked with her since their days at Star Cinema.
Ilaya Ilaya's first project is 'Boldstar,' a dark comedy starring Angelica Panganiban. The film is produced by Bianca Balbuena and is a follow-up to Jadaone's 2020 film 'Fan Girl.
In addition to film, Ilaya Ilaya is expanding into television with a romcom series for Netflix Philippines, which Jadaone will showrun.
The slate also includes 'Chandra Catacutan And The Curse Of The Fuchsia Moon,' a supernatural comedy starring Eugene Domingo, and 'Crème de la Crème,' a coming-of-age whodunnit directed by Irene Emma Villamor.
Jadaone's 'Sunshine' will be adapted into an immersive stage production in 2027, with Maris Racal reprising the titular role in her stage debut. The production will transform an architectural space in Metro Manila into the world of the film.
Jadaone said, 'When you’re watching a film, you’re there to just watch Sunshine make decisions. But here, you’re with her making those decisions.
Background
Michaela Aryanna "Kaila" de Belen Estrada is a Filipino actress. Following several stints in modeling, she signed with Star Magic in 2021 and made her first screen appearance in the drama mystery series Viral Scandal (2021).
Eugenia "Eugene" Roxas Domingo-Bottoni, is a Filipino actress, comedienne and host. She has performed in lead and supporting roles in various genres of the Philippine film industry.
What's confirmed
- Filipino filmmaker and producer Antoinette Jadaone, known for her Berlinale award-winning film 'Sunshine,' is launching a new production outfit called Ilaya Ilaya. The company will focus on genre films, television originals, and immersive theatre.
- Jadaone will run the company alongside longtime collaborator and producer Reign Anne De Guzman, who has worked with her since their days at Star Cinema.
- Ilaya Ilaya's first project is 'Boldstar,' a dark comedy starring Angelica Panganiban. The film is produced by Bianca Balbuena and is a follow-up to Jadaone's 2020 film 'Fan Girl.
- In addition to film, Ilaya Ilaya is expanding into television with a romcom series for Netflix Philippines, which Jadaone will showrun.
- The slate also includes 'Chandra Catacutan And The Curse Of The Fuchsia Moon,' a supernatural comedy starring Eugene Domingo, and 'Crème de la Crème,' a coming-of-age whodunnit directed by Irene Emma Villamor.
- Jadaone's 'Sunshine' will be adapted into an immersive stage production in 2027, with Maris Racal reprising the titular role in her stage debut. The production will transform an architectural space in Metro Manila into the world of the film.
- Jadaone said, 'When you’re watching a film, you’re there to just watch Sunshine make decisions. But here, you’re with her making those decisions.
What's still developing
- “It’s our first time working with Pam Miras as a director, and it is in a genre that is male-dominated,” said Jadaone.
- Jadaone says Villanueva’s work showed the kind of resourcefulness and pop culture fluency she wants Ilaya Ilaya to champion.
- Balbuena said Boldstar emerged from the momentum of Jadaone’s 2020 film Fan Girl and a period of political anger over misogyny and the treatment of women in public life.
- “The project feels very ripe and momentous now, especially after Antoinette’s Crystal Bear win in Berlinale and sold-out local screenings of Sunshine,” said Balbuena.
- “We’re thrilled to partner again with Antoinette Jadaone, whose creative vision and signature ‘kilig’ storytelling have resonated with Filipino audiences everywhere,” said Vitto Lazatin, Director of Content at Netflix Philippines.
- 82: Anak ni Boy Kana, which caught Jadaone’s attention when it screened Cinemalaya film festival last year.
- Domingo plays the eldest daughter of a manananggal – a creature from Philippine folklore that can separate its upper torso from the lower part of its body.
- Written by Glenn Barit from a story by Natts Jadaone, the film is partly inspired by a 2006 incident at Philippine Science High School in which two male students laced a classmate’s water jug with mercury nitrate, preventing her from attending the graduation march.
- According to Jadaone, each audience member will be able to navigate the production differently, potentially experiencing the story in a different way.
- Playwright and actor Mikaela Regis, an Outstanding Original Script nominee at the 14th Gawad Buhay Awards for her one-act play Unica Hijas, is adapting Jadaone’s screenplay for the stage.
- The production will allow theatergoers to move through different spaces, encounter characters up close, decide whom to follow and where to go, and discover moments from Sunshine’s world that were not seen in the film.
- “Sa pelikula, pinapanood mo si Sunshine gumawa ng desisyon,” says Jadaone.