Does the 19th of
February represent a specific day for you?
I wanted the title of the film to be a date, a day in the winter. The film
was shot in February 2011, hence the title. Why a date perhaps? It is the day
that Anna and Alex, the two characters in the film decide to meet, in the
train, in the wagon number 9.
Explain us why
in the whole 34 minutes there is no dialogue at all except one sentence?
Why no dialogue... I tried to express all the words, tension and love I had
to say through image. I believe in expressions, feelings, senses. I worked a
lot on the set, on image, the camera movements, the light, the expression of
the actors, their movements in this little space. I do not know if I succeeded
to transmit and give what I had to say. I know it is always harder to 'give'
and to 'take' when there are no words. I believe in giving the film what it
asks. And for me, it was asking just this one phrase. During the shooting I
shot dialogues as well, which is normal. Always the devil's advocate tells me
'try, you never know'. But from the first take I was sure that for sure I will
use no words at all, or just one sentence, like it is now. As well while
editing with Farah Fayed, who I believe did a beautiful job to cut all the
dialogues, even after long discussions and hesitations. Now here is the result.
What do you hope
the audience will feel? What reactions do you expect?
I believe when you make a film, it means you have the necessity, the urge
to say/express something. And if this is the case, then you want your voice and
worry to be heard, your fight to be shared. I have already shown this film in
various festivals before and the reactions were various. It is difficult to
expect something. Each audience is unique and I'm always curious to hear, to
feel what they have experienced. I have had various interesting comments, and
as well some negative ones. This is healthy. It is impossible to expect that
everybody will love the film. I don't think filmmakers are supposed to please
all. I have many close people and friends in Lebanon who are curious to see the
film on a big screen during this festival. Too sad I won't be able to be there
to share the emotions.
Tell us more
about your career. Where did it all begin?
Well I have graduated in 2005 and I must admit that for 5 years I didn't
actually shoot films for various reasons. I worked hard, did several workshops
in Korea and Denmark, wrote and made an installation called 'My Beirut'. This
chain of rustiness broke in 2010 when I was selected with two other filmmakers
for an exchange program with The National Film School of Denmark. There I made
my first film, a short documentary called Little Stones which was
screened in the previous edition of your festival in 2010. Actually my
graduation film The Last Station was in 2005’s edition. So the chronicle
follows…
After this very special experience in Denmark, I took out the short
script which I started writing few years ago, put it aside and finally decided
to continue working on it with one aim. I had to make this film at any price,
in any condition. And this is what happened. I was selected by Ashkal Alwan to
be one of the 8 directors who received a fund to make a short film for
Video Works 2011. I started shooting and I received afterwards another funding
from the National Cinema Center in Armenia and at a later stage also from the Doha
Film Institute. So February 19 was accomplished. After this film, during
2011-2012, I started to write, prepare and eventually shoot another film, which
I finished few months ago, a feature documentary called Embers that will
have its World Premiere at Busan International Film Festival in South Korea in
October 2012.
Now I reside in Paris where I just started to write my first feature film
with my husband Jean-Christophe Ferrari who is a writer and a film
critique.
Trailer : http://vimeo.com/31951854
Trailer : http://vimeo.com/31951854
Interview
by Reem
Samarani
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