Director Joyce Bernal with Eugene Domingo and Dingdong Dantes

Filmmaker Joyce Bernal can describe the launching movie of Eugene Domingo in a simple Filipino phrase – “buwis-buhay!”

In English, “buwis-buhay” can be loosely translated as giving one’s life to something. And for Eugene Domingo’s “Kimmy Dora,” the director admitted that she along with the producers and crew gave a lot more of their time, creativity and talent in helming the said project into what it is – a funny and yet endearing film for the whole family!

It is believed that the comedienne-actress’ elevation to the lead star status has long been overdue that’s why Joyce Bernal dedicated herself solely to the making of “Kimmy Dora;” and did not accept any other directorial job for television or movies. The movie, with its limited budget, challenged Eugene’s physical fortitude as an actress as she played the twin sisters Kimmy and Dora as well as the sisters’ mother.

“Hindi ko alam kung dala lang ng pagtitipid or we believe in Eugene so much but she is playing three roles – the twin sisters and their mom. I mean, who would better play the mom than Eugene herself. Kung minsan nga sabi ko sa kanya, para malaman natin kung ano ang level ng kaya niyang gawin ang tawag nga namin sa pelikulang ito. This is about sibling rivalry, it’s a comedy but there’s drama and hopefully our audience would cry also,” Joyce said.

To describe the hardship that Eugene Domingo underwent in “Kimmy Dora,” she said that in one of the scenes she had to do a “lock frame.” This meant that after shooting Eugene as Kimmy, she’d wait for herself to transform into Dora, then after shooting, go back again to Kimmy. It was a long and tedious cycle that Eugene had to endure and there were other scenes like that that she did for the movie.

“We also had a scene where she played the role of an ‘ate.’ So she played Kimmy, Dora and the ‘ate.’ From mabait to mataray to mabait and I shot that scene per sequence. Pinagpalit-palit ko siya and playing different persons in one scene really drained her physically,” shared Joyce.

Joyce Bernal is not just a director for “Kimmy Dora.” She too is playing a number of roles and one of them is being one of the movie’s producers. She along with friends – actor Piolo Pascual, business manager Erickson Raymundo and cinematographer Shayne Sarte formed the production company Spring Films.

According to her the whole concept of Eugene’s launching film came about over a casual dinner with friends. Then she told Piolo Pascual about their storyline. Piolo was immediately sold to their idea.

“Pang-commercial film ang budget niya but Piolo still said yes. Actually he said yes tapos sabi niya hindi niya kaya but he knew some people were interested in investing in movie projects so he found these people and ‘Kimmy Dora’ was born,” she added.

So was this the reason Joyce was very passionate about directing “Kimmy Dora?”

“Yes I was. The project itself, alam ko mahirap so wala akong tinanggap kahit anong project. This is Eugene’s launching movie and it was conceptualized with her friend Chris Martinez. And he wrote it for her. We also have to push Eugene here as a comedian. We wanted people to see how talented she is in this film,” replied Joyce.

“Kimmy Dora” is about twin sisters Kimmy and Dora go Dong Hae with totally different personalities. Kimmy is the smarter and is into “high-fashion” while Dora is dumb but very caring to people and animals. Always in conflict and quarreling with one another, the two crossed paths with a “handsome man” played by Dingdong Dantes during a riot.

Joyce revealed that one of the film’s challenges was for her to make moviegoers believe that the likes of Dingdong Dantes could fall for either a Kimmy or a Dora.

“Pinapangit namin si Dingdong,” she laughed. “Mahirap kasing pagandahin si Eugene. Kung ano na lang ang feasible so papangitin na lang si Dingdong. We made him super geeky with thick eyebrows and with a mole. He was intelligent but without confidence. Actually nakakatuwa siya kasi sabi ko kung pwede lang ngang di siya makilala and that was fine with him.”

She had Eugene though doing some kissing scenes with Dingdong Dantes.

And how would she describe Eugene Domingo as an actress in “Kimmy Dora?”

“Eugene likes to discuss a lot of things about the movie. Ang pinaka-maganda naman sa mga pangyayari pag di ko na kayang sagutin tumatalikod na lang ako,” Joyce said in jest. “Even when she was just playing support, she really meddles. Actually sa lahat ng mga artista ko mas gusto ko ang pakialamera, hindi mo naman kailangang sundin. Kasi kailangang ibigay nila ang input sa project because this is not only my project, it is our project!”

Also in “Kimmy Dora” are Zanjoe Marudo, Miriam Quiambao, Ariel Ureta, Gabby Eigenmann, Baron Geisler and some big name actors like Piolo Pascual doing cameo roles.

“Masaya ang movie na ito and we’re praying hard people would enjoy watching it. We are also praying for it to do good in the box-office so we can produce another movie,” Joyce said.

“Kimmy Dora” is produced by Spring Films in association with MJM Productions, and released through Star Cinema. It is slated for a Sept. 2 opening in theaters nationwide!