The Birds Are Watching in Ilaya Ilaya Studios’ Upcoming Found-Footage Horror Film ‘Birdsong’
The Birds Are Watching in Ilaya Ilaya Studios’ Upcoming Found-Footage Horror Film ‘Birdsong’
Shot of a dark forest lit by a camera light, with the following text displayed in the middle: The Forest Remembers. / Photo taken from Birdsong launch teaser
Forests are sacred in the Filipino consciousness, a source of sustenance and terror borne from our animist roots. It provides food, materials for shelter, and other necessities that allow us to live and function as a society. It’s also the home of spirits and mythical creatures that need to be respected lest they trick or prey on us.
Yet none of these reasons have deterred the mass deforestation or complete disregard on our forests to stop, as evidenced from the proposed artificial intelligence and semiconductor hub Pax Silica that will be built on top of the indigenous Aeta people’s ancestral domain in New Clark City, or the temporary dumpsite being built on an Aeta community in 2019 that left a ton of garbage on ancestral domain even after operations have stopped.
The concept poster for Ilaya Ilaya Studios’ ‘Birdsong.’ / Courtesy of Ilaya Ilaya Studios
But in the upcoming found-footage horror film Birdsong, the forest is alive in more ways we can conceive. It’s one of the new projects unveiled during the launch of Ilaya Ilaya Studios, the new women-led production studio from filmmaker Antoinette Jadaone and producer Reign Anne de Guzman.
It stars Kaila Estrada in her first lead role as Kata, a former ornithologist who returns to a secluded mountain seeking a legendary bird that rests within the forests and seeks closure from the disappearance of her previous boyfriend a decade ago.
Kaila Estrada during Ilaya Ilaya Studios’ launch / Courtesy of Ilaya Ilaya Studios
“Horror is a male-dominated genre,” Jadaone said during the launch. True to Ilaya Ilaya Studios’ aim in telling bold, unconventional stories that put women in front of and behind the camera, they've brought on Pam Miras to direct the film. Her previous feature films Pascalina and Medusae plunge deep into the darker recesses of womanhood under oppressive and uncanny settings.
Outside of films that deal with the paranormal such as Sari Dalena's Cinemartyrs and Rodina Singh's Multwoh (Patay na Patay Sa'yo), there hasn't been a single Filipino feature-length horror film directed by a woman in the current decade. The most recent examples can be found in the 2010s such as Bb. Joyce Bernal's Segunda Mano, Katski Flores’ Ang Pagsanib kay Leah dela Cruz, and Eve Baswel's Tia Madre.
The team behind ‘Birdsong’. L-R: Antoinette Jadaone, Pam Miras, Kaila Estrada, Irene Emma Villamor, Yves Eero Francisco / Courtesy of Ilaya Ilaya Studios
“[Ang] Birdsong ay found-footage [film] na nagaganap sa mga horrors na nangyayari sa bundok natin, and Philippines yung country sa Asia na may pinakamaraming namatay na environmental defenders,” said Miras, citing a Global Witness report where Philippines ranked third as the deadliest country for environmental defenders in the world.
She added that she was drawn to the found-footage genre because of how uncommon the approach is in Filipino horror films.
“It's something new, at iba yung feeling na nandun ka kasi,” she said. “Nararanasan ng audience ang nararanasan ng characters in that moment.”
Estrada shared that she’s also fond of found-footage films because of how effective they are in eliciting scares. “Kahit wala pang nangyayari, nakakatakot na,” she said.
But she hopes that the film will inspire people to take better care of the environment.
“Nature is a completely different world, and I feel like this film makes us realize how important it is to respect nature, and as well as to take care of it,” she said.
Horrors of the forest
Director Pam Miras answers a question from the panel. L-R: Antoinette Jadaone (facing away), Pam Miras, Kaila Estrada / Courtesy of Ilaya Ilaya Studios
Jadaone teased that the horror the characters face in the film is not quite what it seems.
“Mga bird watchers yung lead characters natin, so the horror of that is akala natin tayo ang nanonood sa mga ibon,” she said. “Pero what if yung mga ibon pala umaaral sa mga galaw natin kasi hindi sa atin ang bundok?”
Filmmaker Irene Emma Villamor added that what makes the film special are the birds themselves.
“Hindi sila tahimik,” she said. “Kumakanta sila dito like Ate Reg[ine Velasquez]. Yun ang paglalaruan na soundscape.”
The audience listens to the Birdsong panel / Courtesy of Ilaya Ilaya Studios
Meanwhile, production designer Eero Francisco said he drew from discussions with Miras and screenwriter Glenn Barit on memory, trauma, and even artificial intelligence to create the visual world of Birdsong.
“We had ideas of selecting forests that are more deprived of water as they relate to artificial intelligence, so may concept din of drought,” he said.
For Birdsong, Jadaone will serve as co-producer along with Villamor, both of whom have collaborated throughout their careers and most famously in the romantic comedy Relaks, It's Just Pag-Ibig, which they both directed. The script will be written by Barit, whom Jadaone approached after recently watching his mixed-media coming-of-age debut film Cleaners. The film also recently won the Kantana Sound Studio Asian Project Award at the Bangkok International Content Market 2026.
