"Love Child" chronicles the struggles of Pao and Ayla, an unmarried young couple who discover their son Kali is a child in the spectrum. People behind "Love Child" - now showing in Cinemalaya 2024 - find it meaningful for several reasons. It is the last film to be produced and released by Regal Films matriarch Lily Monteverde before her death.
It is the first time for the lead stars (and real-life showbiz couple) RK Bagatsing and Jane Oineza to join the annual independent film festival, and it is also the first time for UP Prof. Jonathan Jurilla to direct a mainstream movie. Prof.
Jurilla first penned "Love Child" as an entry to the Dulaang Pampelikula category of the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, where he eventually won first prize in 2023. He speaks from the heart, being the parent of a child (now 16) suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). "Love Child" chronicles the struggles of Pao and Ayla, an unmarried young couple who discover their son Kali is a child in the spectrum.
They go to Silay City, Negros Occidental, for a better environment for their family and do everything in their power to provide for Kali's therapy despite dealing with the stresses of their respective jobs. Prof. Jurilla admits that the whole narrative of the movie has similarities to the reality that he and his wife had to deal with as parents of someone with ASD.
"Naiba lang yung character ni Pao and Ayla. Mas bata sila. Iniba namin yung personality and yung economic circumstan.