World Premiere | In Competition | Online
Philippines, 2026, 104’, Filipino, Japanese, English
Directed by: Irene Villamor
Screenplay: Irene Villamor
Cinematography (color): Pao Orendain, LPS
Editing: Renard Torres
Production Design: Ferdi Abuel
Music: Len Calvo
Sound Design: Alex Tomboc
Producer: Edgar Mortiz
Associate Producer: Camille Mortiz
Executive Producers: Teddy Javines, Ted Joshua Javines, Michelene Javines, Maria Rafaela Remigio
Cast: Jodi Sta. Maria, Sanya Lopez, Loisa Andalio, Jane Oineza, Carmi Martin, Shamaine Buencamino, Zaijian Jaranilla, Miggy Jimenez
Date of First Release in Territory: May 13th, 2026
As early as the 1800s, Filipinos have been flying to Japan as musicians. But when President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. enabled mass labor migration to address the Philippines’ economic problems in the mid-1970s, the influx of Filipinos to Japan as entertainers increased, particularly women. Many of them went to Japan to perform legitimately as singers and cultural performers, but then, people started using the term “Japayukis” to refer to “bar hostesses, nightclub dancers, strippers, and prostitutes.” Eventually, this term carried a negative stereotype for years, even earning the ire and shame of the community and even family members of these women, who only wanted to provide a better life for them.
Several films and TV shows have already dramatized the struggles of “Japayukis,” even of Filipino migrant workers in general, but in
Midnight Girls, Villamor
attempts to bridge the original wave of these laborers who went to Japan and a more contemporary depiction of club workers and their struggle to fit in a foreign land to care for their families, or realize their own dreams.
Midnight Girls is not a thesis on the Japayuki phenomenon per se. Villamor investigates the lives of Vicky, Paris, Saki, and Wanna (Jodi Sta. Maria, Sanya Lopez, Jane Oineza, and Loisa Andalo, respectively) in Nagoya and distills a story about human connection and familial ties.
Stories about migrant workers are stories about families. “Kamusta kayo dyan?” (“How’s everyone?”) is a common opener when they call home. Most of the time, we see Vicky, Paris, Saki, and Wanna on their phones, on video calls with their loved ones back home. Short check-ups or longer emotional attempts to bridge the distance between Japan and the Philippines. “Ingat ka diyan” (“Take care”) is no longer a punctuation to a call but a request, an order, or a plea. But who’s taking care of the person on the other end of the line?
The testimonies of actual Filipino Omise workers, interspersed throughout the film, provide necessary context for the stories of Vicky, Saki, Paris, and Wanna: the real-world testimonies of abuse, disrespect, and even queer struggles within this line of work.
Midnight Girls is a tender portrait of these women and their families. Villamor lets us feel their exhaustion, their joys, and their vulnerability, all underscored by the persistence of actual lives lived and endured.
Irene Villamor
Villamor is known for her exploration of modern intimacy and complex relationships, carving her own space in Philippine cinema through films such as
Sid & Aya: Not A Love Story,
Ulan, and the recent blockbuster,
The Loved One, which deconstructs the formulaic love story that’s usually depicted in Filipino rom-coms and dramas. She began as an intern for director Joyce Bernal, then became an assistant director on romantic comedies, until she co-directed the romantic coming-of-age film
Relaks, It’s Just Pag-Ibig (“Relax, It’s Just Love”) with Antoinette Jadaone in 2014.
Selected filmography
2016 – Camp Sawi
2018 – Sid & Aya: Not a Love Story
2019 – Ulan
2020 – On Vodka, Beers, and Regrets
2023 – Five Breakups and a Romance
2025 – Only We Know
2026 – The Loved One
2026 – Midnight Girls