Born with the name Evangeline Rose Gil Eigenmann, but known to the world simply as Cherie Gil, she was rightfully acclaimed by fans and critics alike as La Primera Contravida — the prime villainess —which speaks about her prowess at eliciting sinister and menacing emotions in characters she portrayed. However, in Elehiya — her final film before she passed on — she plays the protagonist in heartbreaking scenes that deal with uncertainty, loss and grief.

The actress played Dr. Celine Miranda, who is utterly tormented by the unfaithfulness of her late husband, in the film shot in 2018. The situation is made even more conflicting by her unexplainable attraction to his possible illegitimate son.

"In the last two years, politics and death have infected us in ways our nation has come to view life. We've had to learn to let go and move on. Dr. Celina Miranda did not," said director Loy Arcenas.

"Elehiya means 'elegy' in Tagalog. The film is an elegy to the tortured path that Dr. Celina Miranda created for herself as it is an elegy to the glorious loves and life of the great actress who made Celina come to life," the lauded Filipino filmmaker explained.

A true-blooded Cebuano, Arcenas resided in New York for decades, where he learned and lent his expertise as a scenic and set designer for various plays and stage presentations through the years. Today, he is most known for Ang Larawan, a movie adaptation of the 1997 stage play, which in turn was based on the 1950 masterpiece A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino by National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin. The 2017 musical film was screened at the 30th Tokyo International Film Festival and then the 43rd Metro Manila Film Festival, where it won five awards out of 12.