From the get-go, she was first choice for the part.
MOVIEGOER: Rating Morisette as an actress
Published Jun 12, 2025 02:28 pm
At A Glance
- Having had no previous acting experience in a movie, Morissette had to work double-time especially since she's portraying a real-life person.
And the producers, Girlie Rodis and Celeste Legaspi, proved themselves right. Morisette, formerly known as just a singer who goes by the funny, nonsensical title, Asia’s Phoenix, (I cringe just having to write it down), acquits herself well in the lead role of the school teacher who gathered a bunch of street children and groomed them into a choir. This was in the 1980s and the scenery was the rustic town of Loboc, Bohol, known for its beautiful, picturesque river.
Morisette told a June 7 media con in Mandaluyong that having had no previous acting experience in a movie, she had to work double-time especially since she’s portraying a real-life person.
She found Ma’am Alma Taldo, the devoted founder of Loboc Children's Choir (LCC) quite reserved.
“She didn’t say much. I had to imagine what she was like when she was younger and quite active in the local community.”
Morisette also had to ask other people in Loboc what the old teacher, now in her late 70s, was really like.
“Everyone says Alma Taldo is a beacon. She walks the streets of Loboc in a duster and slippers. Everybody knows her.”
“She had no real lofty dreams for them becoming a world-class choir. She just wanted to give the children something to do.”
Morisette’s moving performance earned her a Best Actress award at the 2025 Manila International Film Festival in Los Angeles, California. The film also won the Platinum Remi Award at the 58th WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival.
Song of the Fireflies, opening June 25 in theaters, is a tribute to the extraordinary journey of the LCC. 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, and the unwavering support of Equit Butalid (played by Rachel Alejandro), a cultural advocate of Bohol.
Another supporter is Bohol-based Lutgardo ‘Gardy’ Labad of PETA who
helped them get recognition. Gardy has a small character in the film, played by Paolo O’Hara.
Over the years, the choir’s dedication and extraordinary talent earned them recognition both locally – where they were honored with the prestigious Gawad CCP Para sa Sining,
– and on the world stage, top honors from the European Folksongs Festival in Barcelona, Spain twice (in 1993 and 1995) and later, the coveted Gold Medal in the children’s choir category in 2001.
Theirs is a luminous story of resilience, hope, family ties, and the power of dreams.
“Song of the Fireflies” was filmed for 18 days in Bohol in 2023. The film was conceptualized in 2019 by Girlie and Celeste, the team behind award-winning “Larawan” (2017).
“After ‘Larawan,’ Rodis says, “We at Culturtain want to do movies about empowerment. I felt that through a public school teacher with no connection, no money, yet she was able to create this amazing choir. We want projects that inspire and empower people.”
The film features music by Ryan Cayabyab, Louie Ocampo, Raimund Marasigan, Jazz Nicolas, and Krina Cayabyab.
Directed by King Palisoc, the film is produced by Culturtain Musicat Productions with MQuest Ventures, in cooperation with Quezon City Film Development Commission, CMB Film Services, and Hartman Communications.