Daily News Egypt: What was your inspiration for the film?
Sherif El Bendary: I was reading the newspaper on a flight, and I found the story by Ibrahim Aslan. I instantly liked the story and identified with the protagonist, although this was not the story I had in mind. The story I had, would’ve involved filming in public locations which would proved costly. And I was bound by a limited budget. So in the end I opted for Aslan’s story.
What was Aslan’s reaction? Was he involved in the artistic process in anyway?
I called him up, met him and told him I am going to use your story for my film and he said good luck. He did not interfere in the creative process in any way and I faithfully followed the script in the story, because I liked it very much. I added a few more lines and made a few alterations and additions to the original story. But it was quite challenging because Aslan’s script is quite exceptional in scope and range. I did send him a copy of the film on DVD. He is yet to see it, since he doesn’t have a DVD player.
One could easily trace the psychological line in your film. Are you following this genre of films in particular?
It’s true. This film is my graduation project for the Film Institute. It was my last film project, so I thought I would be daring and attempt to create a film in this particular tradition – the French Cinema tradition. It’s rarely done and it has little audience here. And I was personally surprised by the reaction people had to the film – since it’s a heavy, serious film.
Do you have any future plans coming up?
Well, I don’t have any future plans at the moment, I am doing a few documentaries for Al-Jazeera News Channel and I am teaching at the Film Institute. I would like at some point to finish the trilogy I started with “Sabah El Fol (Rise and Shine) and “Sa’at Asari (Siesta), the third part would be about the beloved. I wanted to create a trilogy on the mother, the father and the beloved. I hope that sometime in the future I will be able to complete it.
