I do not believe that movies can change the world. But when I see victims of past injustice suffer in silence, I know that my movies will help reexamine their pain, said Merzak Allouache, the director of the feature film The Repentant. His film delves into Algerias black decade. At the fourth Doha Tribeca Film […]
I do not believe that movies can change the world. But when I see victims of past injustice suffer in silence, I know that my movies will help reexamine their pain, said Merzak Allouache, the director of the feature film The Repentant. His film delves into Algerias black decade.
At the fourth Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF), the annual cultural event of Doha Film Institute (DFI), Arab filmmakers like Allouche shared their stories of how they pursued independent filmmaking in order to explore the truth behind events that shook public consciousness.
I believe that film projects must have an independent vision, as it enables us to tell stories that we are passionate about and believe in, he added.
When I make films, I do not think of film festivals or awards. My dream is to take my movie to as many viewers as possible in my home-country, and I know it is a difficult task.
Allouache believes that as a filmmaker he is committed to the society and not to the government. He won Best Narrative Feature Film for his film The Repentant at DTFF this year.
Egyptian director Hanan Abdalla, whose documentary In the Shadow of a Man is screening at the festival, said: My film presents different perspectives of women, who are drawn from different segments of the society. They were as much a part of the revolution, and it is important to tell their personal revolutions within.
She added that even though the theme of her film was to see how women react to the new freedoms in the country, she had no intention of casting blame on men.
While the works of Allouche and Abdalla are based on the impact of politics on individuals, two other filmmakers focused on art and personal journeys.
Laurent Ait Benalla derived inspiration for the documentary O My Body by presenting the behind-the-scene performances of Algerias first contemporary dance troupe.
Algeria has been independent since 1962, and over the years the country has witnessed intense internal turmoil. These have an impact on how people respond to their cultural expressions, said Ait Benalla. 4
My film O My Body is not about dance. Instead it is about the protagonists who are hip-hop dancers discovering new ways to use their love for art and express themselves.
Brahim Fritah takes the journey of exploration through a personal journey. In his film he presents a ten-year-old boy, enacting the childhood of the young director, in the summer of 1980 in a French suburb. Through the boys eyes, the various societal dysfunctions are viewed to draw personal inferences.
Since it was a personal story with no dramatic ups and downs, it was difficult to convince producers to support the project, said Brahim, who eventually received a grant from DFI for the project.
While presenting diverse themes, the one commonality that Arab filmmakers shared was the difficulty to win support for independent stories, and to execute the films, often working in hostile environments.
