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Elaph: Saudi director Tawfiq Al-Zaidi attributed his delay in embarking on the experience of directing feature films in Saudi Arabia to his desire to present a certain level of artistic technique in his first film, stressing that the opportunity was available to him to present the film since the return of cinema in the Kingdom in 2018.
In an exclusive interview with Elaph, Al-Zaidi explained his vision in presenting cinematic films, stressing that he is working on presenting the film to feel it more than watching it, which requires achieving several things related to the artistic vision that shares many of the elements that the director works on, from filming to production, clothing, and filming locations. And other technical details that make the project come out well to the public.
The director of the film “Noura”, which won the AlUla Film Award as the best Saudi film at the Red Sea Film Festival in its third session, considered that filming a film at the present time with the available tools has become an easy matter, but film making is something else that requires an integrated vision.
The film director expressed his happiness with the reactions the film received, as well as the award he won at the festival, while he was keen to share congratulatory tweets from his fellow artists and followers through his account on the (X) website.
The events of the film, which were filmed by Tawfiq Al-Zaidi in Al-Ula, revolve around Noura, the young girl who lives an independent life with her younger brother after the death of her parents in a traffic accident during her childhood, and Nader, the artist, who left drawing and moved to teach children in a village in western Saudi Arabia.
Al-Zaidi, who chose the name of the heroine after his mother after her, sought to present his vision in his first feature film, which made him develop more than 5 options in each specialty for his partners in the film, including filming and editing. He sat with more than one cinematographer to discuss the work with him, listen to him, and find out how he could present his vision and whether it was… As he wanted it or not, which also extended to lighting and other tasks behind the camera.
The Saudi director says that his vision for all the details was clear, so he wanted to shoot, for example, low lighting because the filming was taking place in a dark atmosphere, but when the audience watches it in the cinema, they can see the scenes well despite the darkness in which the filming took place.
He added that the technology used in lighting was modified with advanced technology in Bollywood, pointing out that he was keen to benefit from advanced technologies in lighting, music and montage after completing filming, which required time for the film to come out in the way the audience saw it.
Filming for the film ended in September 2022 after weeks of filming and months of preparations made by the Saudi director with the film makers behind and in front of the camera.
Tawfiq Al-Zaidi says that dealing with professionals in their specialties makes the work come out well and is reflected in the final image that the audience sees, which is what he noticed in the clothing and fashion designer Phaedra, who worked from an early stage on the details of Nawara’s clothes, despite the fact that the heroine of the work was not chosen when they first met to talk about the film. .
Regarding the selection of heroes, especially with the appearance of artists Yaqoub Al-Farhan and Abdullah Al-Sadhan in more than one artistic work and their appearance in a different way with it than in their other experiences, Al-Zaidi said that he worked to address the artist inside them and not their external appearance and features, considering that every artist has a soul inside him if the director can deal with him. He will present it differently.
He added that he sat with them and discussed with them the construction of the roles they presented, considering that the director’s job is how to manage the actor during acting, which is a stage that comes after the “casting” stage of the work, in which he is convinced of the artist’s suitability for the character he will present and his ability to tell the story in the way he desires.
While the Saudi director expects his film “Noura” to be shown in cinemas in the coming days in the wake of the positive reaction he received with its screening at the Red Sea Festival, he is busy working on his next cinematic project, which has entered the development stage, and he hopes that his financing will not be delayed, especially with his enthusiasm for the new experience that Details are kept secret.
