2011 Arab Film Festival in Full Swing October 15, 2011
Posted by muslimouttakes in Muslim Cinema.Tags: arab film festival 2011
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On Thursday October 13, The Arab Film Festival opened with the Premiere of , “Egyptian Maidens”, (Bentein men misr.)
Courtesy of AFF
at the Castro Theater in San Francisco. The festival plays out until the 23rd at four venues, including San Francisco, Berkeley, San Jose, and Los Angeles. Egyptian Maidens played to a full house, and took the audience through its dramatic tension and humor, without a pause. You can read the review here.
The 15th Arab Film Festival, continues to raise the bar, with the leadership of its Executive Director, Michel Shahadeh and his small team. You don’t have to be an Arab to enjoy the films. They are all subtitled and allow many of us who don’t come from that culture to get another point of view and see some wonderful films. With the Arab Spring, creating a political revolution, the film line up, is mirroring the cultural revolution that is going hand in hand with this titanic shift in the Arab world. For more details please check out the following link.
Looking for inspiration: Giving a voice to the voiceless July 1, 2011
Posted by muslimouttakes in Muslim Cinema, Politics.Tags: jeff skoll, participant media giving
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Last week while browsing the newspaper I came across the headline, “Renowned philanthropist and social entrepreneur Jeff Skoll named The Tech Awards 2011 James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award recipient”
“Big deal” you may say, another award to a high-profile wealthy individual. The media has given a lot of coverage to people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, who are giving away most of their wealth for the common good of society. This is highly commendable.
As I read the article, I was amazed at how Jeff Skoll, who was the first president of eBay had used his wealth to setup organizations and foundations for bringing social change. I won’t enumerate them all, but just his work with Participant Media, which is an independent film studio, intrigued me.
Besides my day job in tech., my passion is film. In a good week I can scan 20 to 50 DVDs, looking for inspiration, to write a review on my site MyFavoriteReview.com. When I am not looking to review, I am looking for great narratives, direction, or editing from which I can learn and apply in the no-budget films that I make.
With the exception of a couple of genres, I look at films from Hollywood to Bollywood and beyond in the independent arena. What amazes me is how the vast majority of films can be funded and made, seeing they are not the worth the time it takes to watch them. It is mind-blowing how much time and money is used to make, distribute and consume these films. They are the equivalent of fast food, and fizzy drinks with all the calories and no nutrition. A good film in my mind doesn’t have to be a box-office hit, just something that has a redeeming value. It could be entertaining, educational, and or inspiring.
However, when I spend all this effort looking for these gems, I question my own use of time. That is when I get my spark. Skoll’s inspiration was to use the power of storytelling to address pressing societal problems. “Film is a powerful way to change behavior,” Skoll said. “It gives voice to the voiceless, it empowers people, and it connects them.”
Thank you Mr. Skoll for giving me validation for what I do, even if its effect is a fraction of what billionaires like him can do. Which got me thinking, what are the Muslim billionaires up to? I browsed the Forbes top 500 Billionaires and found 19 Muslim names. Of course this is not a comprehensive analysis, but the list shows the net worth of these people and their passion in giving.
Of all the names only one stood out, number 36 on the list, Azim Premji, the founder of Indian giant WiPro at $16.8 Billion. He is one of Asia’s biggest donors and has a foundation that helps to improve state-run elementary schools in India. At a cursory level, I am not saying that some of the others don’t give, but nothing stood out in their profiles.
There are many others inspiring Muslims who may never make it to the Forbes list. Two that come to mind are Mohammad Yunus, founder of Grameen bank, “banker to the poor” and Abdul Sattar Edhi, the founder of Edhi Foundation who is doing phenomenal social work in Pakistan. As the month of giving and generosity, Ramadan approaches, it is high time that Muslims who have the ability to give besides their poor due, to reach out and see what they can give and do to help their brother and sisters in humanity. You don’t have to be a billionaire to make a difference, but you too can give hope to the hopeless and a voice to the voiceless.
The 14th Annual Arab Film Festival bringing culture to a Cinema near you. October 16, 2010
Posted by muslimouttakes in Muslim Cinema.Tags: arab muslim film fesival masquerades
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I wasn’t too sure what to expect while attending the opening night of the 14th Annual Arab Film Festival. I participated in the reception which was inviting and friendly with intriguing music and tantalizing middle eastern food. The program started in a packed Castro theater, with an introduction by AFF Executive Director Michel Shehadeh and the announcement of the Noor awards. The excerpts or trailers of the films generated applause, but did not overwhelm the audience. Then there was a pause.
Masquerades
The opening night feature began with a welcome from the films Director the Arabic-French speaking Lyès Salem. The story follows Mounir a man who lives with his wife, son, and sister in a small Algerian village. Mounir is cocky and self assured, even though he appears to have no education or future other than his job of being a gardener for a village chieftain. His wife and sister are headstrong women, who turn male chauvinism on its head. The sister Rym is narcoleptic and falls asleep anytime anywhere. She is also in love with Mounir’s best friend, but they keep their love a secret. One drunken night Mounir boasts to the village that his sister is going to marry a rich foreigner. The story is passed on from villager to villager and spiced up as it is passed along. People start treating Mounir as a VIP and his ego swells beyond all proportions, and that is about all I will say about the plot.
I have seen many comedies and satire but nothing could have prepared me for the pleasant surprise in this film. I don’t understand Arabic, but the physical comedy along with the subtitles left no gaps to communicate the humor. The audience including myself laughed hysterically throughout the film. A tight script, a believable cast, great filming, editing, and score all add up to a film whose sum is greater than the parts. Why, I will venture out and say this has to be one of my all time favorite films, and there aren’t that many of them.
Besides the humor the film makes social commentary without being in your face. From celebrities, to narcolepsy, love to marriage, and gender roles, this film touches on many hot buttons. Through slap-stick comedy the subjects of unemployment, corruption, and male chauvinism are deftly addressed.
The Director did a nice Q&A after the film and his comments were thoughtful and even inspiring. I was shocked to learn that the lead character Mounir was none other than the Director himself. I know acting is acting, but I just could not juxtapose the two. As I walked the ten or so blocks back to the BART station and on my ride back to Fremont, I pondered about the film and the festival. In a world where Arabs and Muslims have been relegated to news about extremism and terrorism, the festival for me brings a sense of joy and hope. The coming together of not only Christian, Muslims, Americans, and Arabs, but that small microcosm that we are all a part of. If you live in San Francisco, Berkeley, San Jose, or Los Angeles, take the time to visit the festival. This is one take you don’t want to miss. For more information visit the AFF website at arabfilmfestival.org
An Interview with Amin Matalqa, director of Captain Abu Raed August 3, 2010
Posted by muslimouttakes in Muslim Cinema.Tags: abu raed, amin matalqa, arab, captain, cinema, film
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Amin Matalqa, wrote and directed the award winning feature Captain Abu Raed. The following is an excerpt from an interview with Amin.
Q. Can you share a little bit about your background?
A. I grew up in Amman, Jordan till 13 and then moved with my parents to the US, in Columbus, Ohio. I studied Business Marketing and then spent a few years working in the telecom industry.
Amin Matalqa
Q. How did you get into film?
A. I had been interested in movies since childhood, I used to sketch, and decided I wanted to follow my passion and moved to LA. I started making short films. In 2005, I was accepted to AFI and while finishing up there came up with the idea for Captain Abu Raed.
Q. So what was the inspiration behind the film?
A. There were several. I wanted to make something with a universal theme. My producer David Pritchard, suggested I make something Chaplain would want to be in. My grandfather died that year and even though he was a doctor he was a very humble man, so the character of Abu Raed is based on that humility.
Q. How long did it take to write the script?
A. The first draft took around 3 weeks, but then I spent the next two years working on re-writes. A good part of it was taking stuff out as it is easy to over-write.
Q. How did you fund the film?
A. With my mother and a banker in Jordan we formed a film production company Paper and Pen films. That led to other investors in Jordan which helped to raise $1.5M and the rest came from David to help do the post-production.
Q. What was the major challenge in going from shorts to the production of the film?
A. It was a race against time. We had four weeks, a fairly large crew, so to move around and do quick moves etc. made it challenging. There were other challenges on the ground, but none that we didn’t overcome.
Captain Abu Raed
Q. Let’s talk about casting. You cast the beautiful Rana Sultan who had not acted before, but performs very well. How or why did you make that call?
A. Rana did not want to pursue acting. She has the same level of humility in real life as Abu Raed, so it worked perfectly. She plays a character who is independent and strong, and she’s not stuck up. The main challenge was just getting her to be comfortable with who she is.
Q. What about Abu Raed who is played by Nadim Sawlaha?
A. He was the actor I had in mind when I wrote the story. He is a stage actor based in London and done work for the BBC and many smaller roles in features like “The Wind and the Lion.” He made everyone feel comfortable on the set, and like Rana was my first pick.
Q. How did post-production play out.
A. The editor, Laith Majali was also a producer of the film and involved with it from inception. We cut the film in the US and had some painful technical problems along the way, but it all worked out.
Q. Please talk about the festival circuit and response?
A. The first premier was in Dubai, followed by Sundance. We had the cast and crew at Sundance and the film generated a lot of buzz. It got standing ovations and had people waiting in long lines trying to get into the screenings. Heartland was a memorable festival in October where we won the grand prize.
Q. With all the success on the festival circuit, you won over 30 awards how easy or difficult was it to get distribution?
A. Not easy. Foreign films are not known to be money makers. The studios are cutting back on indie distribution. It took a while but then Neo Classics came in and they took it on. The film played in 30 cities in the US and then went to DVD in April this year.
Q. You made a film which I find touches at the most basic levels of humanity. Although the film is based in a predominantly Muslim country, religion does not play a key element in the lives of the people. Was that a conscious choice?
A. Yes it was a conscious choice. The Arab and Muslim world is seen through the lens of religion, and for this film I wanted to take that element out, and for people to just connect with the humanity of the people.
Q. Congratulations on making your debut and with such a wonderful film. What’s next?
A. I have written several scripts and am exploring some projects to proceed with.
An Interview with the director of Ali & the Ball June 5, 2010
Posted by muslimouttakes in Muslim Cinema.Tags: ali, australia, ball, detention, film, islam, muslim, prejudice, race, short
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Alex Holmes, wrote and directed the award winning short film Ali & the Ball. The following is an excerpt from the interview with Alex.
Q. Can you share a little bit about your background?
A. I am an Australian, my mother is Swedish, my father English. I started off in Art school and from there went to film school in Sydney. After graduation in 2004 I have been doing production design.
Alex Holmes
Q. So talk about short films and the inspiration behind Ali & the Ball?
A. My first short “Out On The Tiles” which came out in 2003, did very well on the festival circuit. Around 2002-2005 there was a lot of political turmoil about mandatory detention of people seeking asylum who arrived on Australia’s northern shores.
Q. Any story in particular?
A. In general keeping mothers and children in detention for up to five years. It was a scandal and I wanted to draw attention to their plight without being preachy or political.
Q. The film has minimal dialogue, but really makes its mark. Can you talk about this choice and the writing of the script?
A. As I was writing this I realized I could tell the story with little dialogue. It took a couple of weeks to come out with the first draft. It was then revised many times as I worked with my producer Helen Pankhurst over the next seven months.
Q. Let’s switch to production. How did you finance the film as both in the production quality of the film as well as the credit list, it shows a lot went into this?
A. In Australia we have options to get funding from the government for both features and short films. It is very competitive but we were fortunate to be a finalist. On the set we had a crew of around 20 people plus folks in post-production, musical score etc. Everyone had to be paid in full.
Q. How did you go about casting the role of the young boy who is the star of the film?
Ali and the Ball
A. I wanted real kids, not actors. So we went to many schools looking at children from different ethnic communities. Literally this child was the last one we auditioned.
Q. What are the challenges of shooting with children, its normally said in film circles to avoid children and animals.
A. With children and even more because he was a non-actor you have to allow for more mistakes. The typical shooting ratio is 12-15:1, whereas for us it turned to be around 25:1.
Q. That must have made for an interesting edit cycle. But we’ll get to that later. How long did it take to shoot the film and what are your memories of it?
A. We shot in a sand quarry. It was a difficult five day shoot, so I came out of it a little disappointed and traumatized (he laughs).
Q. And the editing cycle?
A. It took about a month to get this 15 minute film out. Although the script was strong the film was made in the editing.
Q. Your film has been shown in Berlin, Dubai, and other places. Can you share how it’s reception has been in different parts of the world?
A. Generally speaking the film has been received well in Europe, and for example in India. I felt in Mumbai the reaction was more heart felt.
Q. Any particular reason?
A. Perhaps it’s the familiarity, the crossing of the cultural divide with children and in the background the racial prejudice. We tried to present to North American festivals but it was not shown. Perhaps it is due to the tensions after 9/11 and people are scared to show something like this.
Q. And last question. Although the message of this film is universal, it so happens that the child and the mother are shown to be Muslim. Was that deliberate?
A. It was important to humanize the situation. This was a reaction to the demonization of Muslim people. A lot of people are thinking in black and white, as if these people are terrorists coming to our shores and borders. Again this wasn’t meant to be a political statement.
Q. Thank you for making a film that touches the hearts and minds of people all over.
From Encounter Point to Budrus: An Interview with filmmaker Ronit Avni May 12, 2010
Posted by muslimouttakes in Muslim Cinema, Uncategorized.Tags: arab, documentary, film, israel, jew, muslim, palestine, palestine israel peace filme documentary, peace
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Q. First a hearty congratulations on winning your second audience award at the San Francisco Film Festival for your film Budrus. I know the subject of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a hot one. I’ll circle back to that but could we start of by you sharing a little about growing up and your background?
Budrus
A. Thank you, we are delighted by the award. About myself, I grew up in Quebec, Canada to a Canadian mother and Israeli father. Primarily immersed in a close-knit Jewish community in which I was taught an Israeli historical narrative.
Q. How did you point of view on the Isareli-Arab conflict change over time?
A. While attending Vassar College in New York State, a friend thought I would be interested in taking a course about the middle-east conflict. I felt I had already been over-exposed to this issue, but opted to give it a try. That in many ways changed my thinking and exposed me to concurrent, complex narratives, and especially to Palestinian perspectives. From there I received a fellowship to intern at Israel’s largest human rights organization, B’Tselem. I also began volunteering for the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, an organization founded to combat torture.
Q. What led you to filmmaking?
A. I come from a family of artists. I studied theater directing and was later drawn to film as it allows you to reach a larger audience. After college I sought to combine documentary film and human rights advocacy. I was hired as a Program Associate at Witness, which is an organization founded by musician Peter Gabriel. Witness advances human rights advocacy using video.
Q. So now you have the start of both a political awakening and exposure to video. What happened next that led you on your journey to being a filmmaker?
A. In my spare time but during my tenure at Witness, I interviewed 475 Palestinians and Israeli peace builders, human rights advocates and nonviolence leaders. Their issues were invisible to the media and society at large. Many times one initiative or group doesn’t know about the other. That was the founding idea for Just Vision – to tell the stories of Palestinian and Israeli peace builders and nonviolence leaders who are otherwise invisible to American, Arab, Palestinian and Israeli publics. Early on Joline Makhlouf (Palestinian) and Nahanni Rous (American) joined me, followed by Julia Bacha who had worked on the film Control Point (Brazilian) and Rula Salameh (Palestinian), so we have multiple faiths and points of view represented.
Q. Encounter Point was your first documentary film, which was well received. You won the San Francisco Film Festival Audience award in 2006. Can you talk about the film and its success?
A. The film started the festival circuit at Tribecca, and made its way to Toronto, San Francisco, Dubai, and Montreal. Along the way it was shown in over 200 cities and more than 10 commercial cinemas.
Q. During that process what was the high point for you?
A. Just seeing the audience reaction. That holds true for our second film Budrus.
Q. OK so lets talk about Budrus. The tag line is “It takes a village to unite the most divided people on earth.” What was the genesis of the film?
Julia Bacha (Director) and Ronit Avni (Producer)
A. One of the questions that had come up in the West after we had shown Encounter Point is “where is the Palestinian non-violent movement?.” The assumption was that if a nonviolent movement arose there would be peace. We knew that the situation was in fact much more complicated, and that historically there were already many examples of Palestinian nonviolence efforts. While researching the subject we found that one of the more inspiring and effective examples came from the village of Budrus.
Q. What makes Budrus so different that Encounter Point?
Encounter Point weaves together multiple narratives, while Budrus tells a single story over a period of time. In Budrus, we show how nonviolence brings different Palestinian factions together including Hamas and Fatah, together with Israelis and women leaders. Budrus is about what people can do to transform their circumstances through nonviolence. It is about action and change.
Q. What are the challenges and joys of documentary filmmaking?
A. There are too many to list. For example in Encounter Point we had to turn 250 hours of footage into a 90 minute film. With Budrus there had been a lot of video footage shot by activists with cameras prior to our arrival, so we had to track down their archival footage and then follow up with interviews to bring the story into the present. In terms of joy, showing Budrus in the village and seeing half of the people show up was very touching.
Q. These subjects could be addressed in feature films, why do you choose documentary?
A. Feature films have a much larger reach, but each genre has its pros and cons. People are cynical about the conflict. They have preconceived notions. If we had made the exact same film as a feature, people wouldn’t have believed it. With documentary, people know the subject is real and it is harder for them not to accept the facts. So each genre brings something to the bigger picture.
Q. Thank you.
Movies, Music, and the Muslim Film maker:Part two: An Interview with Imam Zaid Shakir January 30, 2010
Posted by muslimouttakes in Muslim Cinema.Tags: cinema, film, filmmaker, halal, haram, islam, movies, muslim
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This is the second part of the interview with Imam Zaid Shakir with a focus on film making.
Imam Zaid Shakir
Although Cinema has been around for the last century, the presence of Muslim filmmakers in the US and the west is relatively new. We are slowly shifting from being doctors, and engineers into unchartered waters, that of media and specifically film. The following are the insights and guidelines Imam Zaid shared.
JM Now to get into the filmmaking part. We as a community have come a long way in terms of what appears to be acceptable in terms of media. At one extreme some scholars questioned the validity of having pictures taken, and now it is interesting when you go eg to UK and watch satellite TV, there are so many Islamic or Muslim channels that have moving pictures of various scholars, giving their sermons. Can you give some parameters of what is or not acceptable to young film makers as they make films for the theater, DVD/video, internet, and mobile applications media is pervasive.
ZS You should not show pornographic images. There are many successful films that do not show pornography. Don’t promote racism. You can show examples of racism to show how bad it is, or dangerous it is, but not to promote it. Similarly don’t promote misogyny, the hatred and denigration of girls and women, like some rappers do. Don’t show or promote denigration of other religions. Again if you are making a film on the partition of India and the violence that took place, it is OK to show what the non-Muslims did with Muslims, but you don’t want to promote hatred of Hindus. You have to be balanced and also show the wrongs that Muslims did too. Again the purpose is not to promote this just like you don’t want to promote racism or misogyny. Pornography just to repeat is something you don’t want to show period. There are many films that are successful that avoid using profane language and swearing etc.
JM If you look at the major milestones in “Muslim Cinema” and again this is a 50,000 foot view, we have The Message by Mustaf Akad
The Message
which was made in the mid seventies to the documentaries made by Michael Wolfe. Of course there are the films that are made in major film-making countries like Egypt, Iran, and Turkey, but leaving those aside for now, what kind of films would you like to see Muslims making. Do they always need to have a Muslim theme?
ZS They don’t need to have a Muslim theme. It is greater dawah when Muslims don’t have a particular Muslim theme. But in the sense that there is a dearth of good Muslim films that Muslims are making quality Muslim films there is nothing wrong with that as it is filling a void. But every film from a Muslim film maker doesn’t have to be a Salahudin or the story of Bilal the caller. Muslims should be making films about hardship that people are going through. Many of the Iranian films are good at this, eg the Persian film Children of Heaven, shows the hardship a brother and sister go through when they only have one pair of shoes to share. It doesn’t have to be about the revolution around the corner or a figure from history. It can be just about humanizing Muslims. By the way did you see the New Muslim Cool?
New Muslim Cool
JM No, but I have interviewed the director.
ZS Well you have to see that. That film on PBS did more to humanize Muslims than any other film or documentary made about Muslims. It is a film about a Puerto Rican convert that smashes stereotypes where people think all Muslims are Arabs or blacks. It shows how his mother is happy that he is a Muslim. He was a drug dealer and gangster in the making. Now he is a nice guy sitting at home rubbing his mothers feet. People are watching that and seeing how he evolved from a fire bred radical and see the intricacies and connections that join us to other people. It is a powerful narrative.
JM In Hollywood, Muslims and Arabs since the early days have been the other, or the outsiders usually portrayed as the villain. In the nineties we had all the Muslims equals terrorists films like True Lies and a host of other films. With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there seems to be a more positive portrayal of the Muslim in films like Rendition, Syriana, and others which give another point of view. Do you see this trend continuing or is this an aberration based on what is going on in the bigger scenario?
ZS That will continue. As people realize they are being schooled by the same forces there will be more of a tendency for people to see that Muslims are getting a bad rap. On KPFA radio they interviewed Jeremy Scahill who did a documentary on a nine year old kid who was shot amongst 17 civilians by Blackwater guards. A massacre by any standards and it follows the fathers quest to get justice. You will see more of this.
JM Movies by their nature usually have a music component from the score to some theme songs etc. I have asked the question to some of our well known brothers who write and sing Nasheeds about what is acceptable in terms of music (assuming there is), but never got a clear answer. Can you give any guidelines to our future film makers as music is an integral part of making film?
ZS If you are trying to use to use this medium effectively to portray a message, music is a part of that. While I personally may not listen to music at home, when I go to the movies I don’t wear earplugs and just watch the images. If you are going to engage in this genre effectively it will need a musical score so you have a competitive product. But you don’t want to force Muslims who are averse to music, to say that you have to go and see my movie or that you’re old fashioned or whatever. You always want a healthy tension in the community around issues like music, films, and pictures because this is how we will grow. Everyone will reassess their position. Once you lose that tension and it’s all one way or another the growth stops.
JM What are your thoughts on the logistics of how mixed gender scenes should be shot. Do you think it’s okay for non-Muslim actors touching other non-Muslim opposite gender actors, in a scene let’s say between two adult siblings?
ZS Whatever is considered normal and natural is allowed. Of course there should not be anything lewd.
An Interview with Hollywood Writer-Director, Richard Shepard January 12, 2010
Posted by muslimouttakes in Muslim Cinema.Tags: richard shepard hollywood writer director matador hunting party
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Q Please share growing up and your relationship to TV and film?
A I grew up in NYC. MY father was a huge movie fan, and I distinctly remember him taking me to revival theatres to see the two Godfather films. Once I realized that i wasn’t good enough to play third base for the New York Mets, I
Richard Shepard
started thinking about making movies. Seeing Apocalypse Now when I was 14, sealed the deal. it was the first movie that made me realize that movies were an art form along with something just entertaining. Rocky. Star Wars The first Raiders of
the lost Ark. The original King Kong. These are movies from my youth that lifted my imagination…
Q At what point did you realize you were destined to be a film-maker?
A I got my first super 8 camera as a 6th grade graduation present. But I was a little older before I put it all together. Once i decided I had no choice. i really wasn’t prepared– nor am I now- to do much of anything else.
Q How well did attending NYU prepare you for Hollywood and what have been the hardest lessons you’ve learnt?
A NYU was great. I met amazing people.They taught me about cameras, and lighting, but they ignored mostly the two most important parts of directing: Working with actors, and managing the business side of a business filled with sharks.
Your films, Mexico City, The Matador, and The Hunting Party are global and gritty with the first two being based in Mexico and the Hunting Party in Bosnia. Can you share any insights as to what drew you to these kind of projects?
Every movie is different. Mexico City was a million dollar thriller that is deeply flawed. However, I loved my experience in Mexico so much I decided to write another script set there so I could go back and film in that country correctly. Thus, the Matador. The first script I wrote without an outline. Just followed my gut.
Q What was the genesis of The Hunting Party?
A I loved the original article in Esquire by Scott Anderson and was challenged by doing a true story. I also wanted to make a movie in a post-war environment like my favorite movie of all time, The Third Man. So Hunting Party filled all those requirements.
Hunting Party: A film about post-war Bosnia
Q In your thought process what makes a great story for film? How did you know The Hunting Party was a story worth pursuing?
A The article hooked me. And I felt like I could make a great 1940′s Warner Brothers like B-movie adventure– That’s what I told everybody on the crew. Lets not be too serious. Lets make a fun film, and make a very important point about the way we hunt, or don’t hunt for war criminals, but hide it in the way we tell the story.
Q I don’t know if you can say there is some irony in that your story juxtaposed and became a reality in Bosnia, with the capture of Radovan Karadic. Your storyline is similar where a war criminal is caught by the protagonists and handed over to the victims families. Was your film a projection of what you thought may happen and if so any reflections on this?
A All the thinks we say about the Fox, the stand in our movie for Karadzic, was based on what I heard in Bosnia. Tat he had a beard. That he was hiding in the mountains or in Serbia. That he claimed the US made a secret deal with him– all that’s in the movie, and all that’s the truth. Unbelievably fascinating stuff. I’m very interested in whether Karadzic saw a bootleg of my movie. He’s such an egotist it wouldn’t surprise me.
Q You have been quoted as saying “Getting any movie made is a miracle. It’s so hard. Clearly I would love more money, but control — which you normally don’t have when it’s a bigger movie — is more important to me.” Having done large budget studio and lower cost independent films, besides control what do you see as the trade offs?
Well if I did X-Men 3 I’d be living in a bigger house and having an assistant answering these questions for me. But I’d have no soul.
Q The Hunting Party like many of the post Iraq-war films have not done that well in the box office. Even with a gap in space and time, do you think theater audiences prefer escapism and want shut out the realism depicted in these films? If so does this mean films that make social commentary will always be left to niche audiences?
A People aren’t seeking out tough movies, that’s for sure, and that’s a shame because movies like The Hurt Locker are just great. Truth is, the movies audiences are paying for is shifting, and the amount of money you have to spend to get audiences to be aware of your films is staggering. The Weinstein’s barely spent any money releasing The Hunting Party. It’s a shame. I worked my butt off on that movie and am very proud. But it’s had a big life on DVD and cable, so that at least makes me happy.
Q How long did it take for development, production and post-production process?
A The Hunting Party was super fast. A year from page to screen. Most movies take much longer. The Matador took two years. And THAT was also fast.
Q You have worked on Features and Television, writing and directing. Can you share your proudest moment and share reason why?
A I’m proud of every movie and TV show I’ve done. I really am. Ask any director. Their work is like their children. You don’t pick favorites. And I’ve had a great deal of fun and met amazing people on all of them…
Q This is a little off topic but it’s related. How do you view Hollywood and the networks as to how they portrays Muslims.Do you see any interesting trends?
A Hollywood has always been ahead of the curve, and behind the curve at the same time in terms of race, and religion. That said, I’m not a expert. I can only talk about myself. I continue to want to tell interesting stories with interesting characters.
What advice would you have for aspiring film makers?
Write. Write. Rewrite. Rewrite again. Write some more. Rewrite.
Thank you
Casting Call: Mollywood here I come August 9, 2009
Posted by muslimouttakes in Muslim Cinema.add a comment
Now that I have established the virtual Muslim center of filmmaking, Mollywood I thought it might be interesting or just fun to put some ideas to take it to the next step. I have covered the difference between Islamic and Muslim Cinema in an earlier post. Just to recap, Muslim Cinema is a film movement by or about Muslims whereas Islamic Cinema is film that conforms to Islamic laws, customs and values. Again just as a disclaimer this is my definition, nothing scholarly here. Mollywood is definitely the former about Muslim Cinema, so the rules will be a little more relaxed.
Casting Call
Of course no film is made that is graphic in any way shape or form. No nudity, sex, violence, or vulgar language. There will have to be other guidelines but I’ll let the equivalent of the Motion Picture Association of America, called HVA (for Halal Viewing Association) create the rest of the rules. Now its important that HVA be a transparent organization and not like the MPAA which is a secret cult. HVA should be as apolitical as possible.
Mollywood should compete on its own merits and not in the volumous trite that Bollywood produces to the tune of over a thousand films per year. That’s three per day incase anyone is wondering.
Bollywood
Nor should it compete with the Blockbusters that Hollywood produces, as its unlikely starting off that we will have the budgets to make mega-productions. Does that mean Mollywood is relegated to low-budget onesy-twosy films. Absolutely not. Taking a cue from the indie world it is still possible to produce high production value films on relatively low budgets. The transition to digital lowers the barriers to entry also.
All that’s left besides great screenplays are outstanding directors and talent. I have some strong thoughts of how to prevent the malaise that the actors who become stars end up in. You don’t have to watch Access Hollywood or read the National Enquirer to know what is going on with movie stars. Their escapades and lives sadly are transmitted through all the news and entertainment channels. So how can we prevent being dazzled and dismayed by the stars? Lets have moons or crescents. At this years Cinequest festival, I watched a Belgian film which was followed by a Q&A with the lead actor. He shared that the Belgian film industry is so small, actors like himself come from the theater, work in a film and then go back to the theater. That is they never reach cult status. Now there is a cue we can take and learn from. Don’t put these folks on a pedestal.
Money is the other big factor that makes the stars and filmmakers go cuckoo. How about a cap on the amount of money any individual gets, and the rest of the money and profits go into building Mollywood infrastrcuture. If it sounds too egalitarian that’s OK, we’re trying to get a wild idea of the ground. Anyone still wishing to be a part of this wonderful enterprise should call 1-800-Molwood.
The case for Mollywood August 6, 2009
Posted by muslimouttakes in Muslim Cinema.Tags: muslim cinema hollywood Quentin Tarantino mollywood
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Writer/Director Quentin Tarantino
As I wait at Heathrow airport waiting for my flight to San Francisco I grow restless. I have browsed the news and book sections at WH Smith. There are some interesting news magazine covers one about the fall of the “Great” from Great Britain to the rise of American Global Influence. I try to catch up with the news from back home about Obama’s health care initiative, but what catches my reading attention is a magazine cover with director and writer Quentin Tarantino.
Tarantino talks about filmmaking and specifically screenwriting. He writes his screenplay using one finger. That way according to him he self-edits, that is plausible. Then he goes on to say how as a filmmaker he is in command of the audiences emotions. That makes sense. He compares how filmmaking is like sex and he tries to takes the films viewer all the way through orgasm. Wow, what an analogy. I struggle with this. Then to cap it off he says as the script-writer he is God. OK buddy, now you’ve crossed all the lines. First sex and then God. There must be other metaphors he could have picked? I don’t know what Tarantino’s religious inclination or affiliation is. Given his presence and influence in the “new Hollywood” though I think he could be a little wiser. Maybe this plays well to his cult status, but that has me burning. This language of print and pictures is certainly very secular; Far from my Islamic beliefs.
My thoughts transition to Muslims. Who is defining what film making from a Muslim POV is. There aren’t that many studios and film-making countries. There is Iran, Egypt, and then the also-rans like Pakistan, Turkey etc. I haven’t heard or seen of too many Muslim directors giving their view about the world of film from a Muslim POV. Come to think of it we don’t have a Hollywood or a Bollywood. No geographic center. We need a name and a place for starters.
OK so Mollywood is not very original or creative but let’s just make it a working title or name for Muslim cinema. If anyone has a better suggestion please pitch in. For a place, it could be Cairo, Dubai. Tehran, no I don’t think that would go down well. How about Casablanca, Marrakesh, or Tangiers? Anyone got cameras and lights? The gate is closing so I have to sign off. Mollywood here I come.
