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An
Experience of Filming the Truth *
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By Mustafa El-Menshawy
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04/01/2004
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Isabelle Lavigne is a Canadian filmmaker,
she holds a BA in mass communication studies with a specialisation in Cinema.
Her works have won a number of awards and include the Norman Mclaren Award for
Best Documentary, the Kodac Price Award and the Colin Low Award for Best
Canadian Documentary.
J.U.I.C.E, which means Join Us in Creating Excitement, was my
final project, and won a number of awards in Canada. It tells the story of door-to-door salesmen who belong to a very strong
“enterprise” culture. What is interesting about the work is its
totalitarianism - defining the characters’ own dreams and setting an extreme
example of where capitalism can go. In the enterprise, there is a mixture of
scenes of illusion and abuse,
illustrated through the salesmen and their attempts to sell the commodities. The
documentary won the Best Student Film, Norman Mclaren Award for Best Documentary
and the Kodac Price Award. It was also shown at the Montreal Film Festival in
1999.
My
second film, Drying a Thought, is
a sort of contemplative work,
where I try to state clearly that although we tend to think that we are
different from each other, in fact
we are rather the same – suprisingly, from my earlier knowledge. Focusing
a light on a number of deaf kids, and leaving the camera to trace how
they live and interact with the society around them, the documentary was my
first independent production. I felt it was an important step to become immersed
in such a work. I took on the role of author, and had a free hand in controling
the content and the editorial line of the work. It is a much greater
responsibility, but I have to admit that working independently, I can do the
film I want. After all, the documentary film scene in Montreal thrives in a very great and dynamic atmosphere, where you can even take your
documentaries to movie theaters.
In
Drying a Thought I moved around with
my characters for four months, even living with them in the welfare building, in
an effort to reciprocate trust, paricularly as they had suffered from prejudice
- at least from my first impression– due to health problems and alcohol
addiction.
After
shooting this documentary, I found that such welfare people have a lot of
dignity, humour and lucidity, borne out of their inability to live a “normal
life”. The hardest thing in the work is filming how solitude is inflicted on
this marginalised class that have been grappling with problems with their
families, or have no families at all, in a society speaking only the language of
consumerism.
I
did not want them to look at the camera, but just to act naturally, with me only
standing as their shadow. I discovered how we are all similar. When we travel
abroad we want to know how people live and react. Then you discover that all
people are the same, everywhere and anywhere, as they have something basic in
common - reaching happiness.
Although
the number of works I have done so far is small , I have learnt many lessons
from them - precious ones, really. I
have realised the need for a director to be patient and close to his or her
team. In Drying a Thought
it was necessary to feel compassion for such people standing before your
camera, and to treat them as equals, so the outcome was an adventure for both
sides - those who were filming and those who were filmed.
It
is worth mentioning here that we - the Canadians - have something underdeveloped
in society, namely family relations. Unlike this example, Egypt presents a different one, that of a family ready to help and support its
members, even though they could also be entitled to support from the government.
I
normally work with a small team, a cameraman and a coordinator. I do not want it
to be more than this, or it will transform reality too much. The team members
should not be divas or be prejudiced against others, but they should be
generous, compassionate and curious about humanity in general.
As
for other awards, my film Le
4125 Rue Parthenai,s won the
Colin Low Award for Best Canadian Documentary, and also had the chance to be
shown at Doxa Documentary Festival in Vancouver 2000.
My
films should have been shown in the annual Assalah International Week*, but the
screening was fouled up by a technical failure. My participation was a very
fascinating experience for me, as I would have the chance to convey another
image of Canada through my works. For most Egyptians, Canada is a rich country with great nature, but it is more than this. As I have
stressed, most of my works were launched in a way to show that we are not such a
wealthy nation as many think , and
we have a lot of weaknesses, loneliness and solitude. Overall, we are all
walking down the same road - seeking happiness.
I
am also so pleased to find the ‘Week’ an
accessible opportunity for many to see movies other than American-produced ones.
I am of the opinion that it is hard to reach people through cinema . By
definition, it could be believed that it is easy, but by delving into reality,
another picture is painted than that of American movies which dominate the big
screen. The other noticeable thing about this fete is that being held outside
the central city of Cairo in the seaside city of Al-Arish, everybody comes, not just for acquisition of the high standards on offer, but
also for a unique festive atmosphere, rarely seen in other places.
For
my next work, now evolving in my mind, although the idea has not yet
crystalized, I want to do something about Egypt. I am also planning to direct a documentary on refugees.
* Based on an interview by Mustafa
El-Menshawy during the annual Assalah International Week ( August 2003) , in the
seaside town of
Al-Arish–
Egypt.
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