myDylarama

Entretien avec Amel Guellaty, réalisatrice du film Black Mamba

Clotilde Couturier — 2018-09-19T17:57:00Z

"Black Mamba" présenté au Festival de Clermont-Ferrand 2018 :
http://my.clermont-filmfest.com/index.php?&m=104&c=3&id_film=200066481&o=178

Dans la sélection Regards d'Afrique :
http://my.clermont-filmfest.com/index.php ?m=104&c=178?lang=1&n1=c&n2=a&n3=14&id_prog=100000118

Comment avez-vous eu l'inspiration pour Black mamba ?

J'avais envie d'écrire une histoire avec un personnage féminin fort. J'ai aussi une esthétique assez sombre, violente, sale.... Étant scénariste et réalisatrice, l'écriture et l'image vont de pair, et l'un influence l'autre. J'écris au fil de mes idées sans vraiment savoir où je vais. Quand j'ai commencé à écrire je ne savais pas comment finirait mon film. J'ai une idée et ensuite je me renseigne, puis je vais chercher l'inspiration pour construire mes personnages. Je fais le travail un peu à l'envers...

A quel point étiez-vous intéressée par les questions d'émancipation féminine dans ce film ?

J'espère avoir fait un film féministe. On pense la femme en générale, surtout la femme arabe et encore plus spécialement la femme arabe voilée, comme un être faible, écrasé par l'homme et par la société. J'avais envie de raconter une histoire opposée à ces préjugés. Je pense que l'émancipation féminine est le réel sujet de ce film. La femme Tunisienne est admirable dans sa force et dans son combat pour exister et faire respecter ses droits dans notre société mais le chemin est encore long. J'avais envie de dépeindre une autre réalité, de jouer avec les idées préconçues des spectateurs. Des spectateurs Tunisiens mais surtout des spectateurs occidentaux.

Comment avez-vous rencontré l'actrice principale, Sarra Hannachi ?

J'ai rencontré Sarra alors que j'étais directrice de casting pour un autre film. J'avais déjà écrit une version de Black Mamba et lorsque je l'ai vu il m'a semblé évident que le rôle était fait pour elle. Elle dégageait une certaine force qui me rappelait mon personnage principal. Elle m'a tellement plu, qu'alors même qu'elle passait son casting, je me suis mise à lui parler de mon film.

Qu'est-ce qui vous intéressait dans le rapport au mariage ? Pourquoi avez-vous choisi de ne pas nous montrer son fiancé à l'écran ?

Le mariage est encore, en Tunisie, un passage obligatoire pour toutes les femmes au risque de devenir "une veille fille" ou en d'autres termes une honte pour la famille. Dès l'enfance on inculque aux petites filles que la réussite c'est le mariage, que le bonheur c'est le mariage, que le but ultime c'est le mariage. Il est impossible pour la société d'accepter qu'une fille ne veuille pas se marier, alors même qu'on lui présente un homme idéal. En Tunisie, (et ailleurs) la liberté de la femme existe, mais pas la liberté de chaque femme. C'est une valeur qui n'est pas personnelle, pas inhérente à chacune d'entre elles. Le bonheur de la femme est pré-emballé, déjà conçu et réfléchi. Elle sera heureuse en ayant un mari bon et aimant, des enfants et une belle maison. Elle pourra même choisir un métier de femme qui lui convient. L'idée qu'une femme puisse être heureuse d'une manière différente est rejetée par la société actuelle.
Dans le film le fiancé est secondaire, qu'il soit beau ou moche, bon ou mauvais, drôle ou ennuyeux, ne change rien. Peut importe qui il est, il n'est pas ce qu'elle veut. Le déchirement, le choix du personnage principal se fait entre sa passion et sa famille.

Enfin, comment est perçu le film en Tunisie et dans le reste du monde ? Avez-vous pu le faire diffuser partout ?

Pour l'instant je n'ai pas eu de problème de diffusion.
Hormis Clermont- Ferrand, le film est passé durant les Journées Cinématographiques de Carthage à Tunis, ainsi qu'à Marseille et à Hyeres (au festival Films Femmes Méditerrannée) où il à gagné le prix du public. Prochainement il sera visible au festival "Elles font leur cinéma" à Rouen.

Atlas Vision Productions - NextFilms Distribution

Interview about Fear(s) with Ilay Mevorach, director of Open your eyes

Clotilde Couturier — 2018-04-18T09:48:41Z

"Open your eyes" was in International Competition at Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival 2018 :

http://my.clermont-filmfest.com/index.php?&m=226&c=3&id_film=200068373&o=178

Your film is dealing with the question of fear occurring in a daily routine, why were you interested in depicting this feeling?
Fear is a very strong emotion. It is present, it drives to action, all of which makes it very cinematic. We all encounter fear on a day to day basis, in different volumes. Every human experiences it, and presenting it during a daily routine reviles, in my opinion, in a more subtle way a character. In addition a fear that accrues in a daily routine, is usually far more personal, and the more specific and personal it is, the more interesting.

How did you plan your takes and shots to depict that fear? Why? And did you use a lot of close-ups to depict that fear?
Eye checks are conducted in the dark. They are very intimate, and many times the patients feel as if the doctor is looking straight to their soul. My cinematographer, Eyal Elisha, suggested we use red light in order to express Ilana's growing stress during the check. Using this technique, we tried to express the uncomfortable feeling and enrich the fear that was expressed.
We also used quite a bit of close-ups to express the small, tight, personal and tense situation that Ilana was experiencing. On the other hand, It was important for us to also present both Ilana and Dr. Huri in the same shot and the interpersonal dynamic that slowly evolved.

How did you work on the music ? Did you want to make it sound specifically dramatic?
The music was composed by Habib Shehade Hanna, a known composer in the Israeli film industry. He is a true professional! I didn't aim for dramatic music in particular; I wanted the music to express acknowledgment, a small awakening. We started the work by thinking of the instruments we thought were best for that objective. After we decided where we thought the music would give the greatest impact, we agreed to level it up at the end of the film.

Why did you take a woman as the main character?
As I said in the La Brasserie du Court's interview, I got the inspiration for the film from a visit to the eye clinic with my grandma. I wanted to integrate a strong family relationship to the film and decided that a mother-son one was a good fit for the situation. In fact, I didn't choose a woman, I chose a mother.

How big and how deep would you describe your character's fear?
A fear from getting hurt is well known to us all, it's probably the first fear we experience as human beings. Ilana's fear is the biggest, deepest version of that fear; it is an existential fear, which paralyses logic and conquers behaviour. Ilana is sure she is in a true danger, although she is in a hospital, with her son and other people around.

Your film is showing a situation of fear resulting from a larger conflict between peoples of different ethnic origins and cultures claiming the same territory. Did you write "Open your eyes" with the idea of this conflict as a trivialized situation in the film's protagonists minds ? Is it actually one in everyday's Israeli society ?
Ilana the protagonist is afraid of Arabs. When she sees one she's automatically alerted and aware. Although she knows not all Arabs are terrorist, and although Dr. Khoury (her new physician) is an Israeli citizen just like her, she's not going to take the risk. She won't put herself in a room, in a vounrabel situation with a man she is suspicious of, regardless the fact that she never met him - and he is a doctor.

This racist reaction is due to the life she lives, as a Jew in Jerusalem.
This complex city is the home of several ethnic origins, and is sacred to all. It is a crowded city in which religious and non-religious Jews live next to religious and non-religious Arabs.
When she hears about Arabs in the press or just from personal talk, in 90 percent of the time it is in a negative way. So to the best of her knowledge, when she sees one she is alerted.
On top of that, Ilana is also afraid from the fact that her physician was changed, which gives her discomfort regardless of his ethnic origin.
There are quite a few Israeli Jews that feel that way, suspicious of Arabs and far worse. On the other side, I know that there are more than a few Palestinians who see Israelis automatically as soldiers in a checkpoint. Unfortunately that is the reality in Jerusalem, and in more areas of Israel.

KM Productions - Premium Films

Interview avec Sylvain Cruiziat, director of Find Fix Finish

ARFIS, Clotilde Couturier — 2018-02-22T15:08:26Z

Interview with Sylvain Cruiziat, the director of Find Fix Finish, part of the Lab competition at the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival 2018.

Le court du jour : “Find Fix Finish” de Sylvain Cruiziat & Mila Zhlutenko from ClermontFd Short Film Festival on Vimeo.

Get in touch or tweet us @mydylarama to find out more about the film or get in touch with Sylvain.

Interview avec Clarisse Hahn, réalisatrice de Mescaline

ARFIS, Clotilde Couturier, Mydylarama team — 2018-02-14T19:51:15Z

Interview avec Clarisse Hahn, réalisatrice de Mescaline, en compétition nationale au Festival de Clermont-Ferrand 2018.

Le court du jour : "Mescaline" de Clarisse Hahn from ClermontFd Short Film Festival on Vimeo.

Si vous voulez en savoir plus sur le film ou la réal, n'hésitez pas à prendre contact avec nous sur le site ou via notre compte twitter @mydyalarama.

Interview réalisée avec l'équipe de la Brasserie du Court et des étudiants de l'Arfis.

Interview avec Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis, réalisateur de Ondes Noires

ARFIS, Clotilde Couturier, Mydylarama team — 2018-02-13T12:50:28Z

Interview avec Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis, réalisateur de Ondes Noires, en compétition Labo au Festival de Clermont-Ferrand 2018.

Le court du jour : “Ondes noires” de Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis from ClermontFd Short Film Festival on Vimeo.

Si vous voulez en savoir plus sur le film ou le réal, n'hésitez pas à prendre contact avec nous sur le site ou via notre compte twitter @mydyalarama.

Interview réalisée avec l'équipe de la Brasserie du Court et des étudiants de l'Arfis.

Video interview with Andrea Brusa & Marco Scotuzzi - Magic Alps

Mydylarama team — 2018-02-09T12:14:27Z

We're kicking off our 9 video interview with Magic Alps - Spoiler alert 2 min in!

Le court du jour : “Magic Alps” de Andrea Brusa et Marco Scotuzzi from ClermontFd Short Film Festival on Vimeo.

Get in touch or tweet us @mydylarama to find out more about the film and the directors.

Coups de coeur Brasserie du Court - Clermont-Ferrand 2018

Abla Kandalaft, Mydylarama team — 2018-02-09T11:53:00Z

All this week, we're working directly with the Brasserie to select and highlight 9 coups de coeur films from the Labo, International and National Competitions at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. We'll also be filming interviews with their respective directors and will post these as we go!

Here's a little breakdown of our collaborative selection:

MAGIC ALPS

This is a very moving, beautiful and funny - courtesy of its animal co-lead - short about an Afghan shepherd seeking asylum in Italy and asking that his goat and he are allowed to see the Alps, a reminder of happier times in the Afghan mountains. Yet they are denied what should be their right, - the Alps belong to humanity, stress the directors - the shepherd's right to remain is under scrutiny and his goat is facing euthanasia. Despite the grim outlook for our protagonists, this is a film that's filled with hope and elicits a good few laughs.

ONDES NOIRES / DARK WAVES

This is a Labo entry and is exemplary of all that is good about experimental films. It's an utterly mesmerising look at people who suffer (or claim to suffer depending on where you stand) from an allergy to electromagnetic fields. Director Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis traps the viewer in this claustrophic, cacophonous world of phones, computers, wires, waves. The machines have won and they're everywhere. He shot the film in and around France where radiation-free zones are rare and the sufferers struggle to find respite and shelter. As a bit of a technophobe, I naturally warmed to this film anyway, but it remains technically and artistically remarkable.

Video interview with Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis.

HAUT / SKIN

Nancy Camaldo's short is a mature and sober account of life post-car accident for Lia, a young mother, who suffered severe burns on her face. Despite her resilience, she is struggling to navigate the repercussions of those physical changes, namely on her confidence, her interactions with men and her relationship with her family.

Video interview with Nancy Camaldo.

WATERFOUNTAIN

Directed by the surprisingly young Jules Follet, Waterfountain is a darkly funny and stress-inducing short about a small business owner facing a relentless day of escalating problems, occasionally punctuated by unwelcome calls by a sales agent trying to flog him some "Waterfountain" water coolers. The consistently brilliant Philippe Rebbot plays shopping trolley factory owner Armand Münster who is at the end of his tether.

Video interview with Jules Follet.

FOOL TIME JOB

This is an imaginative and refreshingly original - and sadly prophetic -animation about the desperation of the modern world of work. Gilles Cuvelier's black and white short is stripped bare to better reveal the misery and angst of the protagonist who has to go to absurd lengths to earn his crust.

FIND FIX FINISH

There is definitely more to be made, said, decried and shouted about the use of drones in warfare and the cowardice and dehumanisation behind their clinical precision killings. Find Fix Finish is a clever, pared down short that uses the testimonies of three American drone operators, played out as a voice over over footage of pixel-sized human beings, about a war we know so little about.

Video interview with Sylvain Cruiziat.

MESCALINE

At 45 minutes long, this National Competition fiction "short" by documentary filmmaker Clarisse Kahn might not be to everyone's taste when it's part of a screening of much snappier, bite-sized shorts. But it's definitely worth a watch, if only for the stunning Mexican landscape, and ploughing through, as the twists and turns start to unfold. French couple Agathe and Mehdi go stomping through a Mexican village looking for psychedelic cacti without any regard for or understanding of the local codes and customs.

Video interview with Clarisse Hahn.

WEEKENDS

Our second animation of this selection is a hand-animated short written and directed by Trevor Jimenez, a story artist at Pixar, with Chris Sasaki (Monsters University, Sanjay's Super Team) as production designer. It's an eerily beautiful 15 min short about a little boy traipsing back and forth between the homes of his divorced parents, interjected with dream sequences revealing the child's inner turmoil, all to the beats of Dire Straits' Money for Nothing.

Weekends (Trailer) from Trevor Jimenez on Vimeo.

RERUNS

This is the fourth and final part of Dutch artist Rosto's tetralogy, with each one based on a song by his band Thee Wreckers. The festival has programmed the entire tetralogy alongside a documentary about music.
Reruns is a trippy voyage around a subterranean dreamscape - literally based on Rosto's dreams and memories - through his old school and his grandmother's house. Good psychedelic fun!

RERUNS Trailer from Studio Rosto A.D on Vimeo.