Toronto International Film Festival / Glasgow Short Film Festival 2020 – Barakat
People hold the memory of their cities, and vice versa. After-war modern Beirut and its people have lost their anchors towards a memoryless relationship.
Vacant luxury stores and overpriced unoccupied apartments have made the rebuilt city a costly monument of vanity, commodified heritage, and social-delusion.
Interview with Writer/Director Manon Nammour
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I consider myself an engaged filmmaker, I make films that deal with social issues, films that hold a Lebanese identity and reflect our social concerns. I felt the urge to talk about modernization and the acceleration we are living in. All the scenery around us is changing and we are too busy to notice. I wanted to point out on a generation that knew Beirut and can't recognize it anymore. A city that was rebuilt and reconstructed and lost its identity and memories.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
The changing identity of the cities and places is a global issue nowadays. All cities look the same because of the invasion of the international brands over the local traders and manufacturers. The real people of the city have lost it and with that, we are losing our history and our roots.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
As a Lebanese filmmaker, I told the story of Beirut and its people. In fact, I discovered that people from all over the world identified with this theme and linked it to their cities or neighborhood and entourage. The two generations present in the film occupies a big majority of short film festivals’ audiences and the identification process was automatically accessible I guess.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The film was inspired by a real incident and I felt then the urge to talk about this generation before it vanishes. Although the shot list was very defined, shooting in the city sometimes adds a documentary aspect in the frames and I guess that this has added more authenticity to the film.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The film was accepted internationally and the audience related the situation of the film to their own countries and cities. I was happy that the film reached people worldwide and shared a common concern.
Unfortunately due to the Coronavirus precaution measures, all the confirmed selections of the film in regional and local festivals were delayed making the film not shared yet with the Lebanese audience.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
The feedback assured me that it is a topic that needs to be raised and discussed and that people love to talk about such topics that hold a collective concern.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Having the film reach more short film engaged audience.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
The film is at the beginning of its tour and all kind of support is appreciated.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
The idea of "once was and no longer is" made me always think about who is this authority that controls our memory and shapes our future.
Would you like to add anything else?
When I visit a city, I always get the best experience while communicating with its locals especially the small authentic shop owners. These people are the memory keepers of the place and their stories are all that is left for us to create a sense of belonging in the new accelerated world order.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I'm in the development process of my fourth short film Don't worry, I'm not okay.
Interview: May 2020
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Barakat
People hold the memory of their cities, and vice versa. After-war modern Beirut and its people have lost their anchors towards a memoryless relationship.
Vacant luxury stores and overpriced unoccupied apartments have made the rebuilt city a costly monument of vanity, commodified heritage, and social-delusion.
Length: 14:00
Director: Manon Nammour
Producer: Nicolas Khabbaz
Writer: Manon Nammour
About the writer, director and producer:
MANON NAMMOUR is a Lebanese director and production designer. She participated in “La Manufacture” an atelier organized and hosted by the FIFF of Namur (Belgium) where she has developed her new film On the Ropes. On the Ropes (2016) was officially selected in Locarno Film Festival in the Pardi Di Domani competition, in Dubai, Tampere, Uppsala… along with 30 other festivals. In 2018, Manon was selected as one of the five “Arab Stars of tomorrow” an initiative by Screen International UK and Dubai International Film Festival that encourages young talents from the region to develop their career. Barakat (2019) is Manon’s latest short, premiered at the 44th Toronto International Film Festival, the film is now continuing its festival tour. Manon is now pursuing her masters in design.
Program & Artistic Director and co-founder of NDU International Film Festival, NICOLAS KHABBAZ has participated in several international festivals around the world as an officially selected filmmaker, a jury member and a guest lecturer. He has produced several award-winning short films, among which is On the Ropes which premiered in Locarno FF and Barakat which premiered in Toronto (TIFF).
Key cast: Mounir Maasri (grandfather), Camile Salameh (tailor), Rudy Ghafari (grandson)
Facebook: Manon Nammour
Twitter: @ManonNammour
Instagram: @manonnammour
Hashtags used: #BARAKAT