Nisimazine Abu Dhabi Issue#7

Abu Dhabi

Nisimazine Thursday 21 October

‫ أكتوبر‬٢١ ،‫اخلميس‬

.»‫صحيفة مهرجانية تصدر عن ورشة للنقاد الشبان من تنظيم الشبكة الأوروبية لسينما الشبان «نيسي مازا‬

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#7/

A festival gazette published in the framework of a workshop for young critics by NISI MASA, European network of young cinema

‫افتتاحية‬

!‫لقد عانقت شيرين نشات! تحيا أبوظبي‬ ‫ال في أحد كوريدورات‬ ً ‫لقد صادفت وأنا امشي لي‬ ‫ هي احدى أهم‬.‫قصر اإلمارات شيرين نشات‬ ‫الفنانين السمعبصريين في العالم ومن القلة الذين‬ ‫ كلما واجهت لحظات‬.‫يُعد فنهم عالجًا صحيًا لي‬ ‫صعبة في حياتي اسرع الشاهد على موقع‬ .‫اليوتيوب عملها "بقرار" وهو تجهيز بالفراغ‬ ‫فهو يذكرني بأنه مهما بلغت صعوبة الظروف‬ ‫ يا فنانتي‬،‫ لذلك‬.‫فإن أرواحنا قادرة على تجاوزها‬ .‫ طلبت معانقتك‬،‫الحبيبة‬ ‫في اليوم التالي هرعت صديقتي مارتشة إلى‬ ‫ "لقد اصطدمت بعباس‬:‫مكتب نيسيمازين وقالت‬ ‫كياروستامي – إنه موجود قرب السجادة‬ "!‫الحمراء‬ ‫" كياروستامي!!" هذا كل ما قلته قبل أن اهرع‬ ‫ المصورون كانوا يلتقطون‬.‫باتجاه الكوريدور‬ ‫صوره في حين وقفت أنا خلفهم مشدوهة أقول‬ ‫ إنه يتنفس!" عندما تشاهد‬،‫ "إنه يتنفس‬:‫لنفسي‬ ‫الشخص الذي جعلك ترغب بأن تصبح مخرجًا‬ ‫سينمائيًا أظن أنك تعجز ببساطة عن تصديق‬ ‫أنه انسان حي يرزق إذ كان حتى تلك اللحظة‬ .‫حاضرًا بقوة في مخيلتك وأحالمك فقط‬

‫فيلم اليوم‬

FILM OF THE DAY /

EDITORIAL

by Laila Hotait Salas, aged 30 (Lebanon/Spain)

I hugged Shirin Neshat!

Viva Abu Dhabi!

Walking at night in the corridors of the Emirates Palace, I bumped into Shirin Neshat. One of the most important audiovisual artists in the world and one of the few whose art is a healthy personal therapy for me. I watch the YouTube video of her piece Turbulence every time I’m going through a hard moment.

It serves as a reminder that, although things might get difficult, our spirit can take us beyond the circumstances.That’s why, my beloved artist, I couldn’t help asking to hug you.

The next day, my friend Maartje came running into our Nisimazine office and said: “I just literally bumped into Abbas Kiarostami - he’s right beside the red carpet!”

“Kiarostami!!” that’s all I said before I shot through the corridor.The photographers were taking his picture and I just stood behind them and stared. All I could think was: “He’s breathing, he’s breathing”. I guess when you see in front of you the person who made you want to become a filmmaker, you can’t believe they are actually real, as they exist so much in your head, in your dreams.

،‫ أو البارحة بالنسبة لك عزيزي القارئ‬،‫واليوم‬ ‫رأيته يتناول وجبة الغداء في الخيمة وعلى الرغم‬ ‫من تشجيع أصدقائي لي على الذهاب والتحدث‬ ‫إليه كل ما استطعت فعله هو أن أقول لصديق‬ ".‫ دعنا نحدق به‬،‫ "تعال‬:‫مكسيكي‬

And today -your yesterday, dear reader-, I saw him in the tent having lunch, and despite my colleagues urging me to talk to him, all I could manage to do was say to my Mexican peer: “Come, let’s stare at him.”

‫ إنهم‬.‫هذه احدى الجوانب الرائعة لهذا المهرجان‬ ‫ ويحرصون‬.‫يهتمون بشدة بضيوف المهرجان‬ ‫في ذات الوقت على أن يساعدوا المبتدئين أمثالي‬ .)‫ التحديق بهم‬،‫على االختالط بهم (أو في حالتي‬ ‫ أظن أن هذا أكثر وأفضل من أن يكون‬،‫لذلك‬ .‫حقيقة‬

This is one of the amazing things about the festival.They are taking so much care of the people they bring and, at the same time, taking care of the fact that are mixed with (or stared at by, in my case) the ones like me, who are beginners. So, I guess, too much, and too good to be true.

Orion

Zamani Esmati, Iran, 2010 - New Horizons

F

inally, a movie that deals with the hypocritical, backwards mentality of traditional, conservative societies. Orion is the type of film that hits where it hurts, dealing with sensitive socio-cultural issues. A medium close-up of a desperate young Iranian lady, leaning against a wall in a police station, opens the narrative. Off-screen, a woman insults a man, accusing him of having brought shame into her family because he took her daughter's virginity. Later in the film she says that her daughter “is now a squeezed lemon with no juice in it”. The scene is set. Iran is ready to unveil its paradoxical complexity.

A clumsy jump in time shows the lady running away from the police station, waiting for a bus, running again, engulfed in a maze

of narrow streets, and entering discretely inside a house. She is stressed out but a man reassures her while she goes to sit in the basement. Then a feeling of heavy slowness settles in and makes the situation more difficult to understand. The filmmaking style and aesthetic are just too impersonal. But does a film have to be aesthetically perfect to be powerful?

The film leaves the audience perplexed until the situation takes a chaotic turn and, strangely enough, everything becomes clear. The lady is a student and the man, her university professor lover. That's when the hypocrisy hits. She actually came to have her virginity back; her lover contacted a surgeon to restore her hymen. Why don’t conservative people understand that virgi-

REVIEW /

‫تعقيب‬ Miral

‫صورة اليوم‬

J

ulian Schnabel is particularly fond of conveying sensations through distorted images. In The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, this style was justified

by Jean-Dominique Bauby’s inability to express himself, as the numerous distortions communicate his feelings and state of mind. Miral uses the same framework and the language of colours to capture several different periods of time.

Photo by TINA REMIZ

Schnabel deals with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the eyes of three women, whose stories follow one another, traversing time and civil war: the teacher, Hind Husseini (Hiam Abbass), the mother, Nadia (Yasmine Al Massri) and the pupil, Miral (Freida Pinto). The first two characters exist to help Miral fulfil her destiny, even if she doesn’t follow the way of life her family circle tries to impose on her for her own safety.

21/10 Emirates Palace 06:30 PM 23/10 Cinestar 4 07:15 PM

Local conditions

The police interfere before the surgery, and the sequences in the station actually prove that Iranians are much more liberal and daring than what we think. Slowly, I forget about the technical defaults and am convinced more than ever that content is more powerful than style. I once heard that the Middle East is so conflictual that it has a lot of brilliant raw material to explore. Zamani Esmati has understood this, using his film to accuse his own society's hypocrisy.

by Samira Mesbahi aged 34 (France)

www.nisimazine.eu PICTURE OF THE DAY /

nity is actually a concept and no one can materially have it back? People are desperate to protect it and newly-wed husbands get mad when brides don't bleed on the wedding night. These societies need more awareness of women's sexuality.

21/10 Cinestar 1 04:15 PM

Besides our daily at the festival in print, you can also find all our coverage online at

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)‫ اسبانيا‬/‫ ليلى حتيت (لبنان‬: ‫بقلم‬

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Julian Schnabel, France/India/Italy, 2010 Narrative Competition

Schnabel avoids any realism in his adaptation of this true story. Even the hand-held takes are counterpointed by some strong aesthetic choices. One colour treatment is associated with each period of time: The first sequence (the death of Hind Husseini) is in washed-out tones; the second, set in the 60s, is composed of sepias; the final one has more saturated hues. Meanwhile, the editing pits the urgency of the situation against lost and helpless characters, who try to participate in the conflict in their own way.

Miral is a rewarding experience, given the abundance of documentary-like political fictions nowadays.

by Elisabeth Renault - Geslin aged 23 (France)

INTERVIEW /

‫مقابلة‬

REVIEWS /

‫تعقيب‬

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Directors of El Ambulante Eduardo de la Serna, Lucas Marcheggiano, Adriana Yurcovich (Argentina) - New Horizons

Fair Game

C

Eduardo de la Serna, Lucas Marcheggiano and Adriana Yurcovich’s El Ambulante tells the story of Daniel Burmeister, an Argentinean filmmaker who is redefining the concept of low-budget filmmaking.We spoke to the directors to understand how three people can direct one film, and much more…

This is not the first time you`ve worked together. How did you begin to collaborate?

Adriana Yurchovich: We met at an actor’s direction class and from then on we started writing, developing self-produced projects and discussing fiction scripts.We did a short film and then this documentary. This is an informal collective, not a company. We just met at each other’s houses.

Eduardo de la Serna: It’s a collective that only lasts for each film. It’s not an organization that will necessarily continue on making films; there is no plan that forces us to keep on working together.

How can three directors work at the same time?

Lucas Marcheggiano: It was accidental.

Eduardo found out about Burmeister and he told us his story. We talked about directing it the three of us but we didn’t think much about it. We are all very different. In a way we complement each other. Adriana pays more attention to production issues, Lucas is more worried

about the image and I am more concentrated on the narrative. So we trust each other and let everyone have the final word on each specialty.

A.Y.: we try to reach a consensus.The most difficult moments were in the post-production phase. Shooting was too fast to allow any discussion. During the editing we discussed pretty much every single shot. In extreme cases, when there was no consensus possible, it went to a vote. It turned out to be a much better picture than if only one of us had directed it because the different perspectives were all included in the film. When one of us wanted to include a shot he or she had to convince the other two.

E.S.: It is a good thing we are three, it avoided a lot of problems.

How did you come up with the idea to make this film?

E:.S. I did a small short film with my children called El Refugio de los Caracoles which was selected for a small festival in Argentina.

There I was talking to the organizers who told me about this man who travels from town to town making movies with the locals. A few years later the Argentine Film Institute created some subsidies for lowbudget documentaries. It was then that we got together to work on the script.

How was working with Daniel Burmeister?

L.M.: It was easy because we were working in a very small town.We respected his time and method of working and we only asked him to do re-takes very occasionally.

A.Y.: When we were developing the pro-

ject we realized that we should concentrate all the shooting in one place and record the process from the beginning to the end.

E.S.: Anyway, if we‘d had to travel from town to town it would have been an odyssey because he works very fast. He once told us that the time it took him to shoot a scene was the same we took to set the tripod (laughs). He was a very charismatic, very funny man. At one point he got tired of being followed around everywhere but that’s normal.

Would you like to one day produce the same kind of films as Burmeister?

L..M.: Not really. What interested us was to see how he worked, his process and method.

E.S.: Yes, what interested us was that anti-industrial and almost revolutionary approach to filmmaking. We wanted to see how this man has managed to make a living from this. In a way we reclaim that anti-industrial approach. We prefer that form to the Hollywood way.

Doug Liman, USA, 2009, Showcase

redits open with archive footage of George W. Bush’s speeches about nuclear weapons in Iraq after 9/11, accompanied by the soundtrack of Clint Eastwood by Gorillaz: “I’m useless but / not for long / the future is coming on” echoes, as if the Bush administration got bored and was looking for something to fill their schedule. Fair Game testifies the true story of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts), who was exposed when her husband (Sean Penn) published an accusing article in the New York Times about the lies fabricated by the government in order to declare war. We never see the President during the film - only through TV screens or his executives, as he’s just a puppet doing as he is told.

male roles. Naomi Watts comes back late from work and doesn’t have time for her family, while Sean Penn plays the man at home, sensitive and neglected. The main issue is to repair their relationship, put in danger by the husband’s need for action. The political and personal intrigues work in parallel, guiding this strong woman’s destiny. Doug Liman, director of The Bourne Identity, uses a hand-held camera and fragmented editing to maintain a feeling of urgency and a state of imbalance.

Maybe this is a little déjà-vu for an audience used to political thrillers. Finally, during the credits, the real Valerie Plame takes Naomi Watts’ place, with archive footage from her actual testimony, to bring the audience back from the actress’s great performance to a big scandal of our century.

The introduction to the two protagonists shows a reverse in the traditional male-fe-

by Elisabeth Renault - Geslin aged 23 (France)

21/10 Emirates Palace 09:45 PM

REVIEW /

‫تعقيب‬

Do you plan to continue to work together?

A.Y.: We plan to help each other on future projects, yes. The idea is to keep on collaborating with each other but not necessarily direct together.

Do you feel the Oscar for The Secret in their Eyes has helped change Argentinean cinema?

L..M.: If there is change I haven’t seen it.

At least not in practical terms.

E.S.:Yes, I don’t think Argentinean cinema is stronger because of the Oscar. But it is definitely gaining more respect.

A.Y.: To be fair The Secret in their Eyes is very different from most of Argentinean productions because it was huge. There are only 2 or 3 of this size per year. But on the other hand we produce something like 60 low-budget films a year.

by Fernando Vasquez aged 30 (Portugal) 21/10 Cinestar 2

09:30 PM

‫الرجاء زيارة موقعنا اإللكتروني‬

* www.nisimazine.eu *

‫لالطالع على مدونة الفيديو وغيرها من املواد املتعلقة باملهرجان‬

‫وطن‬

‫ إخراج جورج سالوزر‬,‫ هولندا‬,‫ دقيقة‬72 ‫وثائقى‬

‫ ليصبح الفيلم وثيقة‬،‫عائلتين فلسطينيتين‬ ‫سينمائية تمزج ما بين المنظور الذاتى‬ .‫والتاريخى وأيضًا السياسي‬ ،‫ دقيقة‬76 ‫في الفيلم الذى تصل مدته إلى‬ ،‫ينقل المخرج صورة لحياة عائلتين الجئتين‬ ‫يبدأها بمادته األولى التى صورها عام‬ ‫ مع عائلة "حمد" الفلسطينى ذو ال‬1974 ‫ والتى مزجها بمادته المصورة‬-‫ عام‬93 ‫ لنرى من خالل كم أنهك اإلحتالل‬،‫حديثًا‬ ‫ فقدوا فيها‬،‫اإلسرائيلى نفوس أجيال كثيرة‬ ..‫أبناء من هذه العائلة‬

‫ما بين منتصف السبعينيات وبداية‬ ‫ وعام‬،‫الثمانينيات من القرن الماضى‬ ،‫ نشعر بأن حلم العودة للوطن‬2010 ‫ فى‬،ً‫ بل مستحيال‬،‫أصبح صعب للغاية‬ ‫ظل حالة التلعثم السياسي التى يعيشها‬ ..‫العالم‬

.

21/10 Cinestar 2 07:15 PM

"

‫ الذى‬،‫وطن" هو إسم الفيلم الوثائقى‬ ‫يعرض للمرة األولى ضمن مسابقة‬ ‫األفالم الوثائقية فى مهرجان أبوظبي‬ .‫ من إخراج جورج سالوزر‬،

‫ ذو األصل‬- ‫الفيلم يرصد مخرجه‬ ‫الهولندى والمولود فى باريس عام‬ ‫ التحوالت التى طرأت علي‬1932‫العائالت الفلسطينية بالمخيمات فى‬ ..‫ والحنين للوطن‬،‫بيروت‬

،‫تعاطف "سالوزر" مع القضية الفلسطينية‬ ‫المحرك الحقيقى وراء‬ ‫ربما كان‬ ‫ وهو متكئًا‬،‫إصراره علي صناعة فيلمه‬ ‫ يخطو بهما مجددًا داخل‬،‫علي عكازين‬ ‫ فهو ينتقل من‬..‫المخيمات الفلسطينية‬ ،‫ فى أزمنة وأمكنة مختلفة‬،‫مكان ألخر‬ ‫من خالل مادته التى صورها علي مدار‬ ‫ مع‬،2010‫ و‬1982‫ و‬1974 ‫األعوام‬

‫نسرين الزيات‬

He is Ernesto Che Guevara, the Argentinian doctor, intellectual and military leader, who was a central figure in the Cuban revolution, as well as an ever-increasing number of fiction and documentary films. Che’s appeal as a cinematic character is obvious. He was a charismatic and articulate figure, who had the good grace to get killed young and leave a beautiful, if (whisper it) slightly bloated corpse. His face is recognised worldwide thanks to a legendary Alberto Korda photograph, which depicts him staring implacably into the future. He is the acme of radical chic, a hero to (sub) urban guerrillas worldwide. But surely, given that his identity has now been appropriated by everyone from the New York Art Workers’ Coalition to Madonna, we need to ask whether the Che of popular culture resembles an actual man anymore, or whether he has been reconstituted as a malleable political tool. Do the filmic depictions encourage the latter interpretation? Is it a case of “When the legend becomes fact; print the legend?”

21/10 Cinestar 1 06:45 PM 22/10 Cinestar 8 03:30 PM

W

hen I finally met Abdulmuhsin Almutairi, cofounder of the Talashi Saudi Filmmakers’ group, I was on the verge of frustration.

I had spent three days searching the corridors of the Emirates palace, the Abu Dhabi Film Festival’s press office and the guests’ hotel for the young Saudi filmmaker, who is presenting his short Mask in the Emirates Competition.

This problem extends to fiction films of Che as well. If The Motorcycle Diaries, of which the new documentary feels like an extended companion piece can be excused its uncritical celebration of youthful exuberance, Steven Soderbergh’s Che, which deals with the adult years and enjoys a lengthy running time, might have been expected to probe more deeply. Instead, as Variety critic Todd McCarthy points out, the film evades a litany of Guevara’s unflattering policy positions, including his insistence the Soviets should have declared nuclear war on the USA during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In this context, the most ‘honest’ cinematic depiction of Che may have been the ridiculous Richard Fleischer film of 1969 starring Omar Sharif, which was a shameless post-mortem cash-in, offering no pretence at objectivity.

In an era of political homogenisation and bland, cookie-cutter leaders, it’s tempting to look to the icons of the past for inspiration. It therefore remains crucial that filmmakers endeavour to tell the full stories, instead of offering partial accounts.

Coming across Saudi film screenings in international film festivals is usually not easy either. The few Saudi films which make it to festivals often carry off awards though. Take for example The Shoemaker by Ahd Kamel, which was recently awarded Aleph Best Short Film gold prize at the Beirut International Film Festival, Aayesh by Abdullah Al-Eyaf, which won the Gulf Film Festival award for best short and The Fabricated Crime by Tawfik al Zaidi, which was granted the best editing award from the Jeddah Film Festival.

It is thanks to young filmmakers like Almutairi that, with some difficulty, Saudi cinema is making a place for itself on the international art scene. Saudi Arabia has no local or governmental film fund, cinema schools, academies or professional film crews. Even cinemas are very few and far between. That’s why Almutariri and eight young Saudi filmmakers decided to support themselves and establish Talashi. While the filmmakers prefer to call it a group, Talashi is in fact an independent film production company.

“We don’t have a license”, the 20something says hesitantly. “And we are not making any profit anyway”.

But they are making films good enough to be screened at international festivals like Rotterdam Film Fest and San Fransisco Film Society among others. One of their films Shrouq/Ghroub by Mohammad Aldhahri also got the Dubai International Film Festival’s FIPRISCI Best Short Film award. Talashi produced 12 short films so far, all self-funded.

“None of us alone so we buying film whole group says.

by Michael O'Regan aged 29 (Ireland)

could afford to work decided to invest in equipment that the can use”, Almutairi

As the Talashi group includes directors, editors and cameramen who are willing to work for free, Almutairi says one film’s budget

does not exceed USD 1500, which is usually paid for the actresses.

“There are very few Saudi actresses, and even these few ones rarely agree to work for a bunch of young men like us who do not have a wellknown film production company”, Almutairi says. “As it is very hard to find actresses, those who agree to act charge a lot.”

They even tackled the difficulty of recruiting actresses in Saudi Arabia in their short film Three Men and One Woman. Other Talashi films criticized early marriages and forcing women to wear the chador, amongst other taboos.

“The most important thing about our films is that they reflect reality.

Some people criticize us saying that we should paint a good image of Saudi Arabia abroad and I agree with that, but that doesn’t mean not to tell the truth”, says Almutairi, who believes that there are few red lines in Saudi Arabia. He also believes that having to apply for special permission to shoot in public areas doesn’t impose any restrictions on film production in Saudi Arabia. “You get permission to shoot anywhere you want except for the areas which have a sign that reads “Don’t take photos,” Almutairi says. “If you respect the law then you are fine.”

from Aayesh

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from Che

from The Motorcycle Diaries

Yet, the film veers too close to hagiography to provide original insight. It’s a defiantly old-fashioned, stately procession, which seems rather the sort of thing that might have been shown in communist youth clubs in the 1970s. It fails to seriously engage with the Che depicted by opposition figures such as Jacobo Machover, who tell of a brutally violent, even sadistic man, who relished suppressing dissent.

with ethereal, almost Christ-like access to socio-political insight.

Springtime for Saudi Cinema?

Even so, according to Almutairi although some Talashi films can be critical of Saudi Arabian society, they are well-received and even supported by the ministry of culture, which screens them on public TV and in cultural centres.

“Society started to accept Talashi.

We were actually surprised how well they received our films”, Almutairi says. “You just have to have the guts to do it.”

by Nadia Muhanna aged 26 (Syria)

For more information about Talashi log on to www.talashifilms.com SAUDI SHORTS in the EMIRATES COMPETITION: Dark by Bader Al Homoud, Doll by Reem S Albayyat, Harmony By Distress

by Thieab Al Dossary, Return by Hussam Alhulwah, The Shoemaker by Ahd Kamel, Mask by Abdulmuhsin Al Mutairi, The Phoenix Bird by Jasim Al Qile, There Are Only Leftovers of Fried Chicken in the Fridge by Nawaf Almhanna, Aseel by Faisal Al-Harbi EMIRATES COMPETITION AWARD CEREMONY 21/10 9:30 p.m. Festival Tent

from The Shoemaker

from Che - A New Man

The latest effort to set the scene is Che - A New Man (Che - Un Hombre Nuevo)

by Tristán Bauer, screening in the Documentary Competition at the ADFF. The film, clearly a labour of love, is the fruit of 12 years of Stakhanovite labour on its maker’s part. His principal achievement is obtaining a cache of previously classified personal correspondences, sound recordings, and other effects, declassified by the Che-worshipping Bolivian president Evo Morales. The resulting film aims to use the found material to allow Guevara to tell his own story, from childhood to death, taking note of statements that show the subject acknowledging the failures of the past, and establishing him as an inspiration for future political action.

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A

t the close of Water Salles’ The Motorcycle Diaries (Diarios de Motocicleta) a young man is enjoying a party to commemorate the three weeks he has spent volunteering at a leper colony in Peru. In good humour, he makes an impromptu speech calling for the creation of a new kind of political movement, one that transcends traditional prejudices and ideological limitations. Gripped by a righteous fervour and keen to enact his ideals, he elects to leave the sanitised safety of the staff quarters, and spend the night with the afflicted. He swims across the river dividing the groups, barely surviving the asthma attack he suffers en route. He is greeted as a hero, and it seems clear to all present that this is a special individual,

from Three men and one woman

Chasing the Flame: The Cult of Che Guevara.

‫بقعة ضوء‬

from Shrouq/Ghroub

FOCUS /

Photo by TINA REMIZ

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ENCOUNTERS NEW HORIZONS

director of Sun Dress (UAE)

director of Zephyr (Turkey)

Belma Bas

Belma Baş was born in Ordu,Turkey in 1969. After moving to Istanbul to study English literature, she developed an interest in being a director. Her first short, Poyraz, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006. Zephyr, about a troubled 11-year-old girl who is spending the summer living with her grandparents on their isolated farm, awaiting the return of her absent mother, is her debut feature.

Saeed Salmeen Al Murry My second meeting with Saeed Salmeen Al Murry began with a misunderstanding. I had already bumped into him at the Cannes Film Festival back in May 2010. The Abu Dhabi Film Festival had taken the initiative of inviting five young Emirati film directors to take up their marks in the international film industry.

They were there to watch movies from around the world and network with film professionals at the Film Market. When I had the opportunity to meet him again, I was delighted.

B S

ince when has cinema been a part of your life?

For a long time (laughs). In my childhood there was only one TV channel, and I strongly remember seeing images of Bergman’s The Seventh Seal without really knowing what they were. Throughout my childhood, European films were shown: it wasn’t all mainstream Hollywood things. So you could see very good examples of European cinema.

When I moved from my small town to Istanbul, there was a little film festival, which is now the biggest film festival in all Turkey, and I saw things like Tarkovsky’s Stalker, and I became aware that a different style of cinema exists. I was fascinated by this. I was most interested in the mavericks of their own countries.

Zephyr addresses similar themes to your earlier short film. Is this by design?

Yes, my short film was a prelude to Zephyr. I used many of the same non-professional actors. Also, because there is a lack of heroines in cinema, I want to make a series of films from a female point of view. The male perspective is very different from the female perspective, so I’m trying to capture new traits.

Is Zephyr an autobiographical film?

The storyline is fictional, but otherwise everything is real. I started with experiences I had growing up. I wanted to go back to the roots of everything. I gained a new perspective coming to a big city, Istanbul, and it’s a kind of nostalgia that takes me back to my home town. There are also references to the 70s period in the music. Somehow, I’m a little fixated with the 70s, my childhood. But the situation of the movie is fictional; I am not like Zephyr. Well, I was kind of autistic, maybe! Zephyr is kind of autistic too. She lives in her own world, and she has different reactions to everybody else about life.

Is it fair to say the style of the movie is indebted to classic European cinema?

Yes, and it’s not only Tarkovsky. Look at the cow’s eye; it’s like Bunuel! I was also influenced by Bresson, and the mother’s face is framed as a tribute to Bergman. All those influences form the pieces of a puzzle: childhood, family history, my relationship with English literature, the masters of contemporary cinema, like Haneke and Van Sant.They are handling delicate issues in a deadpan style and with frightening starkness. I believe there is no creation without tradition. Every influence I have makes its way into the formation of my own filmmaking.

Zephyr’s mother is a very mysterious character. Why do you think she has abandoned her daughter?

I just gave a little hint, because if it’s very obvious, then people’s focus will go. It’s just a part of the bigger picture. At the end we see there is a UNICEF file which falls out of the backpack. It is about children who are under threat. She knows she can leave her child in a safe environment. So, she cares about other children for very idealistic reasons.

She feels more of a social responsibility than a political one.

The movie was shot on film; what do you think of digital production methods?

I am still a conservative in this respect. I love film stock.

I can’t think of using digital, because it makes things look unsophisticated. The advantages of film are still much higher than the advantages of digital. My DP is also very fond of film. But, in terms of budget, I may have to move to digital for the next project.

Do you learn about yourself making films?

Of course. I confront my secret fears. I have big questions about life and the dark side. This film can be summed up as a ‘coming of age’ story about growing up, and I myself need to be a more grown-up person, maybe.

Making films helps me to solve my issues (laughs).

by Michael O'Regan aged 29 (Ireland) ZEPHYR 21/10 Cinestar 6 10:15 PM

Nisimazine ABU DHABI 21. 10. 2010 / # 7 A gazette published by the association N I S I M A S A with the support of the Abu Dhabi Film festival

efore our interview, I was watching the DVD of his film. It began with a warm female voice reciting verses in honour of the sun and the moon, evoking the sun dress.

And then the sound muted. Concerned, I dialled his number: "There's no sound on the DVD. What about the original copy, are you going to be fine?" He began to panic - in the confusion, he thought I was one of the staff of the Marina Mall Cinestar calling him to announce a disaster.

Such a technical problem can be catastrophic if there is only one copy. Finally arrived at the press lobby, the director confessed that the unique copy of his debut film was in possession of the Cinestar and that he was waiting for support to make several other copies: "It's expensive! But fortunately I have the support of the right people such as Mrs. Kanoo's Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation, the Emirates Foundation and SANAD. I'll ask them an extra financial support to make more 35mm copies to approach film distributors. So far, someone called me from Kuwait".

People with special needs are often seen as flawed.

Saeed Salmeen wants to give them dignity. The action takes place in the 70s, in a Village where two men fall in love with her but apparently being deaf is an obstacle. Despite these hardships, Halima remains dignified.

Fortunately, nowadays the Emirate leadership helps people with special needs receive support from a variety of services, programmes and initiatives offered by rehabilitation and care centres, as well as public and private organisations to ensure that people with disabilities get a chance to pursue their ambitions in all fields of life on an equal footing with the rest of society.

Saeed Salmeen has invested himself in the mission of contributing to the development of the Gulf film industry and training the new generation: “I chose young staff from Bahrain and the UAE to train them.

The market for Emirati films is not yet significant. They first have to be distributed in the Middle East to generate interest.

“We need more exposure. Some film production houses based in the UAE don’t even know Emiratis make feature films”, Saeed Salmeen explained.

He is thrilled to introduce his first feature, which was produced with his brother Amir's Abu Dhabi-based film production house, Cinevision Art Production. He started getting interested in filmmaking in the 80s. At that time there were no film schools, and like any other aspiring filmmaker of his generation, he read a lot of books to learn about the craft. His first short came in 2001, and a few years later he was winning awards for the shorts Hudoob and Al Ghobna. He then opened Roo’ya Production. In Cannes, Saeed Salmeen was tired: “I had just finished shooting my film in the UAE and Syria. It was very difficult to get the shooting permits and the equipment in Syria and in Red Island in the UAE. But with patience, I overcame obstacles.”

After the 'misunderstanding’ was over, the filmmaker started to relax and feel comfortable in his armchair. I found him endearing because he wants to change the mentalities of his society. He uses a symbolic and poetic cinematic language to talk about suffering deaf women. “I wanted to talk about Halima; she carries all the pain of the world. There are millions of Halima. But she is strong and feels normal.

She can do whatever she wants and love.”

My DOP is Jordanian. And regarding the actors, here there’s no agency fully dedicated to cinema actors yet.

If they are TV actors, the casting department is more than willing to give away their details. I organised a workshop and rehearsals to train them because most of them had TV and theatre acting's bad habits.”

By joining the strengths of each cinema professional in the UAE, within the next few years Emirati cinema will be providing strong competition for Arab cinema from other regions.

‫ فريق التحرير‬/ EDITORIAL STAFF

‫ مدير التحرير‬/ Director of Publication: Matthieu Darras ‫ احملرر املسؤول‬/ Editor in Chief: Jude Lister ‫ ترجمة‬/ Translators: Nadia Muhanna ‫ التصميم وتنضيد الصفحات‬/ Design and Layout: Maartje Alders ‫ املساهمون‬/ Contributors: Nesreen El-zayat, Samira Mesbahi, Nadia Muhanna, Michael O’Regan, Tina Remiz, Elisabeth Renault-Geslin, Laila Hotait Salas, Fernando Vasquez.

NISI MASA (European Office) 99 Rue du Faubourg Saint Denis 75010, Paris, France.

Tel + 33 (0)1 53 34 62 78 europe@nisimasa.com / www.nisimasa.com

by Samira Mesbahi aged 34 (France) SUN DRESS 21/10 Cinestar 6 07:00 PM 23/10 Cinestar 2 05:00 PM