Director Joyce Bernal Might Finally Win An Award For Filmfest Entry '10,000 Hours'

DIRECTOR JOYCE BERNAL is busy on both the big and small screen. She’s now finishing the Metro filmfest entry “10,000 Hours” starring Robin Padilla and is also directing the big-budget new series of Dingdong Dantes on GMA-7 about the end of the world, “Genesis”. Last Monday, we went to the shooting of the movie at Broadcast City. That night was also supposed to be the presscon for “Genesis” but it was cancelled due to the fire that broke out at the GMA basement. “Kung natuloy ang presscon, magpapaalam ako dito sa shooting para sumaglit doon,” says Joyce. “E, kaso nga, hindi natuloy, so dito na lang ako sa movie.”

She was supposed to direct another filmfest entry, but she begged off to focus on “10,000 Hours”, a political action-drama that’s difficult to do since they also shot on location in Amsterdam. What convinced her to do it?

“It’s Neil Arce, the producer, who persuaded me to do it,” she says. “Sabi ko nga sa kanya, mali siya ng kinukuhang director. Gusto raw niya mas manalo ng award. Sabi ko, gago ka ba? Ayaw mong kumita? I’ve directed Robin before sa movies in ‘Tunay na Tunay’ with Jolina Magdangal and ‘Kailangan Ko’y Ikaw’ with Regine Velasquez. Then sa TV, nadirek ko rin siya sa soap ng ABS also titled ‘Kailangan Ko’y Ikaw’ with Anne Curtis. Pero ibang-iba ang Robin na mapapanood nyo kaysa sa mga nagawa na namin before at sa nakagawiang screen persona niya. Big challenge for me ang movie kasi hindi siya tulad ng dating ginagawa kong romantic-comedies. Matino at matapang ang tema kasi pinapakita ang corruption sa government natin. Ang big challenge is how to make it more commercial. I had three meetings with Sen. Ping Lacson para mas makilala namin siya and 18 times namin ni-revised ang script to make sure na lahat ng tamang elements ng isang seryoso but commercially appealing movie, naroroon.”

Another challenge is shooting it in Amsterdam. “We got people there who will help us not only sa shoot but in getting all the right permits. At very cooperative silang lahat. It’s good napakagaling ng director of photography namin, Marissa Floirendo. Hindi rin nagkaroon ng language barrier kasi may isang Dutch doon married to a Filipina who speaks fluent Tagalog. We even got real cops to play cops in the movie. At lahat nung Dutch doon na tumulong sa amin, they also worked for other foreigners na nag-shoot doon, they said kami ang pinakamasaya sa set kasi yung mga iba, sobrang seryoso raw.”

Her last filmfest entry was the horror-drama “Segunda Mano” which won a best actor award for Dingdong Dantes. Now, she’s with Dingdong again in “Genesis”. “Malaking project ito. Ang hirap gawin kasi maraming special effects. May threat sa mundo due to meteor showers. It’s good si Direk Mark Reyes ang in charge sa special effects. Dingdong plays a PSG. Si Robert Arevalo ang vice president but when he died, yung anak niya, si Lorna Tolentino, tumakbong president and she wins. Si Rhian Ramos ang kapareha ni Dingdong as a teacher na kababata niya. Abangan nyo kasi naiiba ito.”