The 20th Arabian Sights Film Festival

The Arabian Sights Film Festival will launch its 20th season with a diverse selection of the newest and most captivating films from today’s Arab world. Films are American and Washington, DC premieres and are screened with English subtitles. This year’s festival line-up includes: Cairo Time from Egypt, Eyes of a Thief from Palestine, Far From Men from France, From A to B from UAE/Jordan, I Am Nojoon, Age 10 and Divorced from Yemen/UAE/France, The Intruder from Netherlands, Les Petits Chats from Egypt, Zinzana from UAE, A Thousand and One Journeys: The Arab Americans from the USA, and The Man from Oran from France. Many are award-winners at other festivals and will have special guests in attendance.

Guest filmmakers attending include Majid Al Ansar, director of Zinzana; Khadija Al Salami, director of I Am Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced; Abe Kasbo, director of A Thousand and One Journeys: The Arab Americans; Najwa Najjar, director of Eyes of a Thief; and Sherif Nakhla, director of Les Petits Chats.

A panel of guest film directors and Arab film experts will take part in a panel discussion "The New Arab Cinema" to explore developments in Arab film and new opportunitites for Arab filmmakers. The panelists are filmmakers Majid Al Ansari, Khadija Al Salami, Najwa Najjar and Sheif Nakhla and Colin Brown, former editor in chief of Screen International and Raymond Karam, director of program outreach of The Arab Gulf States in Washington.

Special events include a party after the Closing Night film From A to B, a reception after each screening of A Thousand And One Journeys: The Arab Americans, a 20th anniversary Happy Hour, and Q&As with filmmakers. New this year is a Jury Award, a competition of selected films that deserve increased recognition.

The Arabian Sights Film Festival showcases films demonstrating the range and commitment of directors telling engaging stories while exploring issues facing the Arab region. The festival highlights quality cinema from a region often overlooked in mainstream American theaters. It is a constantly dynamic event with select directors present at their screenings to lend insight to the filmmaking process. The Washington, DC International Film Festival is the parent organization of Arabian Sights. This year, Arabian Sights is presented by the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Washington, DC.

Screenings will be held at AMC Mazza Gallerie October 16-25. See the website for tickets and passes.

The Cinema Lounge

Adam's Rib Takes a Break From Film To Honor Yogi Berra

The New Girlfriend: Q&A with Director Francois Ozon and Actors Romain Duris and Anais Demoustier

By Ron Gordner DC Film Society Member

A screening of The New Girlfriend (Francois Ozon, 2014) was held in September 2014 at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. A friend of a young woman who just died finds out that her friend’s husband has a secret and she slowly helps him realize his secrets and become good friends. Ozon wrote the screenplay based on Ruth Rendell’s story. The film opened in late September 2015 at DC Metro theatres including Landmark theatres Bethesda Row.


Director Francois Ozon and actors Anais Demoustier and Romain Duris at the Toronto Film Festival

TIFF Moderator: Your films have always had feminine performances in a wonderful way, what inspired you tell this particular story?
Francois Ozon: Actually the screenplay is originated from a short story by Ruth Rendell that I read 20 years ago. I tried to make a short film of it long ago but could not find the money, or the actress or the actor at that time. I looked at it again last year and did a screenplay and wanted to have a key to empathize with the husband. So it was difficult to know how to begin and end this film.

TIFF Moderator: We can all attest to how well you did that. (applause). Can both actors talk about what you found most enjoyable or most challenging in making this film?
Anais Demoustier: Most interesting to me when I read the script was that my character was very quiet and I had to imagine and create many things on the set. I enjoyed the love story and soul friendship relationship.
Romain Duris: I am lucky but hair removal was interesting and a challenge for me.

Audience Question: An enjoyable film with lots of unexpected twists and curves, when can we expect a sequel?
Francois Ozon: That would be fine if you have a script for me and I think Romain would be willing to do it. (laughter)

Audience Question: Will the film be distributed?
Francois Ozon:This is our world premiere in Toronto and we hope to release it later in France, although we do not know how the public will react now since there have been marches and opposition to gay marriage and other issues. This film does not shout any message but shares the intimacy of the character and the complexities of desire. For me this is really a film about freedom.

Audience Question: I noticed some Canadian references.
Francois Ozon: Yes it is a French film but we also shot two weeks in Canada so it is really a France/Canada co-production.

Audience Question: I think you chose a small clip from the film Waterloo Bridge is that right?
Francois Ozon: Yes, I love that movie. A melodrama and I liked the music also very well.

Audience Question: The epilogue at the end, do we think he ends up with Claire or what should happen?
Francois Ozon: What did you feel?
Audience Question: I think it’s left open for interpretation.
Francois Ozon: Yes, I see you are a smart audience and saw that Claire was pregnant near the end. How many people think the father is Gilles and how many think it is David?
Romain Duris: I thought it was me? (laughter)
Anais Demoustier: I am the only one who really knows. (laughter)

Audience Question: The choice of songs was great--did you do research on that area?
Francois Ozon: I liked those songs, but when I asked transvestites who would have been around in the 1980’s they said that many of these songs were too obvious or melodramatic. It works in different situations and she is a very good singer.

Audience Question: I would like to ask Monsieur Duris, what preparation or research you did for the role, and did you discover something about yourself during that research or doing the role? (laughter)
Romain Duris: It was a physical training walking in high heels. I also had to get in touch with my feminine side and I worked with a dance choreographer who allowed me to walk a different way. I did that for a month and after that I was comfortable and I had to trust my own femininity inside. The physical was the first step then the make-up and wigs, dresses etc. I worked with Francois. It was a sweet process.

Audience Question: Romain, do you miss Virginia?
Romain Duris: Yes, sometimes I miss her a lot. I don’t know how I could do it again.

Audience Question: Did you keep any of the wardrobe?
Romain Duris: I only kept the high heels.

Audience Question: When did you start growing a beard?
Romain Duris: Two months ago I started growing it for another role.

TIFF Moderator: Francois you are so prolific, you seem to have a film every year. Last year we had your Young and Beautiful film. What is your process in choosing and doing films?
Francois Ozon: Making a film is a pleasure for me a game, not work. We have lots of joy with the actors. When it becomes hard I will stop. My films in France give me a great freedom and seem to be enjoyed so far.

TIFF Moderator: How did both of the actors learn about this project and get involved?
Anais Demoustier: I had to audition for the role. Francois at first thought I may be too young for the character of Claire. I had to prove to him I was the best one for the role and thanks to Romain working with me, I got it.
Romain Duris: I received a phone call from Francois.
Anais Demoustier: Much easier! (laughter)
Romain Duris: He asked if I would do such a role.
Francois Ozon: He was very excited to do it especially after getting the wig, etc. he became Virginia. (applause)

The New Girlfriend is currently showing at Landmark's Bethesda Row Theater.

Time Out of Mind: Q&A with Director Oren Moverman and Actor Richard Gere

By Annette Graham, DC Film Society Members

A preview screening of Time Out of Mind was shown at AMC's Georgetown Theater on September 10. Director Oren Moverman and actor Richard Gere were present after the screening to answer questions. The discussion was moderated by DC Film Society director Michael Kyrioglou.

Time Out of Mind is a sensitive story of the homeless starring Richard Gere as a homeless man removed from the place he was squatting and adrift on the streets of New York City. He ends up at Bellevue Hospital, a homeless men's shelter where he is befriended by another resident (Ben Vereen).


Left to right: Oren Moverman, Richard Gere, Michael Kyrioglou. Photo by Adam Spector.

Michael Kyrioglou: What was the origin of the movie?
Richard Gere: I got a version of the script in 1988 and it was still incredibly, sadly relevant in 2000. I decided not to make it. It wasn't quite right, it needed a lot of work, I couldn't get it out of my mind, the possibilities of it. I ended up buying it and spending many years trying to think how to mine what was inherent in the script but hadn't been revealed yet. I loved Oren's work; we had worked together on Todd Haynes film I'm Not There (Todd Haynes, 2007). We ran into each other and were talking about what we were doing. "I'm looking for a writer like you, I'll know you'll never want to do this but who do you think could do it?" He said, "Let me read it." So he read it. And it took on this life. I did research before Oren came on. But then we re-mined the whole territory of the homeless shelter world and he wrote this brilliant script and agreed to direct it.
Michael Kyrioglou: Did the original script focus on a singular person like this?
Richard Gere: The whole second half was a court case. It was too normal, frankly, too expected in terms of its structure and where it was going. And I wasn't interested in that and neither was Oren. Backstory, we just didn't care. We wanted to explore something that was more mysterious than that.

Michael Kyrioglou: Other things are revealed like the piano playing in the cafe scene that don't assume anything about anyone and then your perception changes.
Oren Moverman: That piano piece by the way was a Richard Gere original.
Richard Gere: We don't always tell people that, but it was an accident. We had been talking about what to do with the piano and did Dixon really play, or is he an imaginary playmate of mine? We were there shooting a scene and we finished the scene and had a little time before lunch and Oren said why don't we do this. Just improvise something. The cameras were set up. I just walked in the shot sat down and played and walked away. It was one take. And that was it. It has spontaneity because it was; it was invented in that one take.
Oren Moverman: Richard told me he knows how to play the piano but I had no evidence. (audience laughs). So I thought, let him play the piano, prove it and let's see what it is. He sat at the piano. We didn't know what was coming; he didn't know what was coming because it was improvised; it was a 10 minute improvisional piece. The entire crew just stood there. There is something about filming music that is very exciting to begin with. But when it's created in the moment and you see the character create it, not the actor or the musician, but just the character. It was breathtaking for us. I wish we could have used the whole 10 minutes. You really don't know people, what they are capable of and what they bring with them. Part of this movie, part of the impetus for making a movie like this is to bring you to a place where the people you don't look at, one person in this case, becomes the main event and you still don't know that much about him, but you open yourself up to the possibilities of having compassion for this person and through that you hopefully discover something about yourself.

Michael Kyrioglou: How did you envision this film? It has a fascinating unexpected perspective.
Oren Moverman: From the beginning we talked about making a movie that is not going to be a movie of the week or an expected story of a homeless to Harvard triumph. But it wasn't going to be that singular exceptional story.
Richard Gere: Or that there was a great reveal, with a Rosebud moment.
Oren Moverman: We wanted it to be a negotiation, a relationship between the viewer and the movie and trusting the intelligence of the audience, because audiences are intelligent as opposed to what a certain town on the west coast thinks. (everyone laughs). We wanted it to be a movie that is experiential, you experience the process from the day a person leaves an apartment and can't get back in and doesn't have anywhere to go. And it had to reflect the point of view of the city, our point of view when we look up from our phones in our busy schedules. When we look through the window of a cafe or an apartment window, from a rooftop, from a different perspective. For a movie about character, you have to make an effort to notice. The movie is shot in a way where the perspective is that of making an effort to notice this person. You are outside when he's inside, you're inside when he's outside, the city's moving around him really fast, he's moving at his own pace. There are some shots in it that we jokingly refer to as the Where's Waldo shot, because you have to make an effort to find him in the shot. There are a lot of real people moving around. That was the visual approach. The sonic approach, the sound was really just a reflection of sounds in New York City which if you really truly listen to it--we live in New York and are trained to block out this assault of sounds--but when you close your eyes and listen to it, it's insane, it's the sound of insanity, it's too loud, it's too much, there's too much stimulation, there's too much going on. Let's reflect the sound of the city, but also let's reflect from the point of view of the character where he's just too sensitive; he can hear it all, it's disorienting, there's so much drama going around his life. We are aware of other people, and the fact that everyone has a story, everyone has a reason for the way they behave. We don't judge anyone, we just want to take a look. That's what the film is about.

Audience Question: What sort of research did you do?
Oren Moverman: Richard did a lot of the work; he's been at it for years and years. When we ran into each other at the party, it was less than 3 years ago. He told me he was already in the process of researching and thinking, being an activist in New York. He brought me into the process by going to shelters and talking to people in shelters on all sides of the issue, giving me access to clients but also administrators. I talked to everyone and heard a lot of stories and a lot of them were rolled in to what this movie is, there are many scenes in this that we witnessed, or fragments of conversations we heard that made it into the narrative of the movie.
Richard Gere: Actually the research itself ended up being the movie. It was things that I had remembered when I was doing my research. We both work very organically. We don't push anything. We work from dreams, we allow ourselves to slowly evolve. When it happens it happens. These kinds of things can't be pushed. The process of this slow burn really informed the structure of the piece. Just following a guy. What happens when someone is thrown out of the last apartment that he's able to talk some woman into letting him be in? What happens then? That is really the process. Process became character; process became movie; process became narrative.

Michael Kyrioglou: Was there anything that you found surprising?
Oren Moverman: Everything was a surprise. Everything was set up to develop into something we didn't expect.
Richard Gere: Sometimes I didn't even know where the camera was. The camera was very far away. You can tell it was hugely long lenses, rooftops. I didn't know where he was. I usually have one young assistant director who had a FBI-type walkie-talkie and he was talking into his wrist. And he would say "Action." And I would say "Where?" I don't know. (audience laughs) And then I'd be doing something and I'd see him walking by me and he's say "Turn around and go the other way." I'd turn around, and do something else. The film was a lot of catch it as something was happening, things that couldn't be repeated and very happy accidents. Even in interiors we were shooting with very shallow focal lengths. We had to be so in tune with each other in a kind of mysterious wave length. The operator, the focus puller and I had to know preternaturally where we were going to be at any moment.

Audience Question: What do you think would be some of the solutions and policies for housing?
Richard Gere: You are going to know more than we do. We flew in this morning and we've been doing press to talk about your issue. We talked to senators and congressmen and administration, secretary of HUD. We're trying to gather more information ourselves. It really does comes down to housing, maybe the most important part of that puzzle. You have a community here. Community is really the core. We are social beings. We need to see faces, we need eye contact, we need to touch and hear. Without community we fall apart. As I was playing the character on the street, this sense of isolation and disconnect quickly leads to mental, psychological and spiritual issues. It happens so quickly to any of us, we would fall apart. A wholistic approach has to begin with housing. Creating community, possibilities of strategies of how to function in the world that can become the new habit of how we can relate, all of us. You have a community already, you're making films, thinking of the future, have programs, you guys are in motion.

Audience Question: There seems to be a trend of the smaller producers. Broadgreen and Relativity are taking on some advocacy in topics. Is there a website to direct people to services and things they can support, sign a petition, giving money?
Richard Gere: There are organizations. We are trying to figure out how to use this film properly. We spoke at The National Alliance for the Homeless, there were thousands of people there, local groups, serious people who had been working for a long time. We showed the film to them, they had a similar response: Yes that's the way it is, that's what it feels like, sounds like, smells like. We offered the film to them, use it, it's the truth as we know it. Use it if you can. We are in the process of helping them use the film to open a dialogue in communities across the country. I work with the Coalition for the Homeless which is in the movie. We actually shot in their offices. That was a real place. Eventually we will have a call to action of what one can do.

Audience Question: There are number of big name actors in the film. Why did they take small roles?
Richard Gere: This is hard to believe but Oren is a really respected writer-director. (audience laughs) They responded to this. Many of them were friends doing me a favor and him a favor, doing a film, but they believed in it. They believed that this was something important. Actors want to do something important also. No one made any money on this. My driver made more money than I did. It was clearly that sense of responsibility coming out, that people could use their art to do something of value in the world.

Audience Question: Were those real tenants in the Bellevue facility?
Richard Gere: Some were, some from the Coalition for the Homeless, former clients, some were still on the street. We had such amazing extras in those scenes. They were so real and so full. I couldn't see the difference between our people and the extras. They were incredible.

Audience Question: Why did you have the daughter come out of the bar run after him if you didn't want to have a rags to Harvard ending?
Oren Moverman: They didn't want the ending to be too depressing.
Richard Gere: He wrote an ending that he thought was doing that. We discussed it. We have to go further, at least there is a possibility that there's a beginning point for something to happen. Nothing in life happens that quick. She's not going to come out and say all is forgiven, hug, kiss. Life doesn't work that way. But it's a moment of possibility. You can ask yourself did he get to the next step of forgiveness or not? It's not our job to tell you what happened.

Audience Question: What kind of acting preparation did you do?
Richard Gere: I can see the movie the same way you do. I can disassociate from having been the guy. I think there is something about how long this gestated with me, how long I've been thinking about it. It was deep enough inside me that it wasn't something I had to crank up every day. It was sitting there. It was a different kind of acting preparation. It wasn't about inventing a backstory and a history for the guy. I didn't do it that way. I was much more intuitive about him. I was looking for something else. In a sense it was clearing myself into more of an open space and just allowing the moment to reveal itself. Which works well with the way he (Oren) likes to make movies. Because of that, I was flowing in and out of him very easily. I wasn't torturing myself when we weren't shooting. I was actively producing the movie. I was being an adult and producing the movie and and then clicking into being George. It wasn't a problem.

Time Out of Mind was shown at Landmark's West End Theater September 18-24.

We Need to Hear From YOU

Calendar of Events

Previous Storyboards