By Nestor Cuartero
Published Jun 26, 2025 07:40 am
It’s not a musical film, but one that’s full of music. Lovely, beautiful music skillfully interwoven into a moving narrative that brings one to the highs and lows of dreams, passion, and determination.
‘Lovely and beautiful’ similarly sums up the film itself as it tells a luminous story of resilience and hope, and the power of dreaming.
We attended the premiere of ‘Song of the Fireflies’ on June 23 at Gateway 2 in Cubao with hopes held high, considering that its producers, Celeste Legaspi and Girlie Rodis of Culturtain Musicat Productions, have a reputation for excellence in every project they plunge into. In 2017, the same creative team brought us ‘Ang Larawan,’ a breakthrough musical film based on a literary classic by Nick Joaquin.
When you go to preview a film about a rural choir’s success story, you know more or less what to expect. The story is written in your mind, and you don’t have to wait for someone to tell it to you.
What’s good about King Palisoc’s direction and Sarge Lacuesta’s scripting lies in the way they have made the storytelling engaging through quick pacing and editing.
Subplots are introduced through careful foreshadowing and are resolved by the film’s end. The film’s two young leads, played by Noel Comia Jr and Krystal Brimner, are allowed back and tangential side stories that allow their characters to shine and reveal themselves effortlessly. These add up to the film’s level of interest and engagement.
Yet, the story is not really about the two young lovers.
‘Song of the Fireflies’ is a tribute to the extraordinary journey of the Loboc Children’s Choir, which began in the 1980s in the quiet riverside town of Loboc, Bohol. Composed of children as young as 9 to 13 years old, the choir had to rise above poverty, limited resources, and natural calamities – all in pursuit of a single dream: to let their voices be heard.
Their dreams burned brightly, fanned by the steadfast guidance of their teacher, Ma’am Alma (played by Morisette), and the unwavering support of Equet Butalid (Rachel Alejandro, co-producer), a local cultural advocate.
As luck would have it, the LCC would go on to conquer Manila and international competitions abroad.
And now, the music. What a welcome relief that the film is so rich in local color portrayed lavishly through songs, folk dancing, some rituals, lots of rural scenery. They are interspersed with a happy mix of folk songs and contemporary songs written by renowned composers Ryan Cayabyab, Louie Ocampo, Raimund Marasigan, Jazz Nicolas, and Krina Cayabyab.
Their compositions are laid back-to-back with Filipino folk tunes taught to pupils in public elementary schools that strike a joyous, nostalgic chord in people of a certain age. How long has it been since the time you heard songs like Pobreng Alindahaw, Bahay Kubo, Sitsiritsit Alibangbang, among a few others, performed in a Filipino film? The one who sang them the most, Ms. Pilita Corrales, died just recently.
At the talk back, I asked Celeste and Girlie where they’re getting the courage, if not the money, to produce films like ‘Ang Larawan’ and ‘Song of the Fireflies?’
At one point, Celeste said it was kind of foolish to do so, but in one’s pursuit of art, she said, you take a great leap of faith.
With wonderful cinematography capturing the essence of Bohol’s fabled Loboc river at night or at the break of dawn, lush in its poetic beauty, not to mention the breathtaking swarm of fireflies flickering in the dark, ‘Song of the Fireflies’ goes one step closer to lyric poetry, something so missing in today’s film scenery.
'Song of the Fireflies' swept the 2025 Manila International Film Festival with multiple wins: Audience Award for Best Picture, Best Actress (Morissette), Best Supporting Actress (Rachel Alejandro), Best Supporting Actor (Noel Comia Jr.). It also won the Platinum Remi Award at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival.
‘Song of the Fireflies’ is now glowing in cinemas.
