“I loved working with Cherie. One thing with Cherie was that when she worked she really worked, when she lived she really lived. This was our second project together. We did the stage play ‘Arbol de Fuego,’ where she played one of Anton Chekhov’s most difficult characters. When we were rehearsing, she really concentrated on acting, but once we went out, she would really party,” recalled Arcenas.
“I have to say, though, that doing this film with her was fun. It was work and it was friendship. You really cannot ask for more. She was never a prima donna on stage and while doing this film. ‘Elehiya’ is very much an indie film. You already know the requirements of doing an indie,” he pointed out. Arcenas said he offered the film project to Cherie soon after they did “Arbol de Fuego.” “She didn’t ask questions.
“Everything you see is from the original shoot. We just reconfigured it. It used to be a social critique. We already streamlined the story way before, at the beginning of the pandemic. Cherie knew about the story shift [from ‘Mirador’ to ‘Elehiya’]. Editor Chuck Gutierrez and I only began editing it in 2019, and then the pandemic hit us. I was in Cebu, and Chuck and I could not come together. After that, election period came and there was no way to get people to concentrate on the film.