Majd Mastoura to Asharq Al-Awsat: “Behind the Mountain” exhausted me physically and psychologically
Tunisian artist Majd Mastoura (33 years old) embodies the character of “Rafiq”, who suffers from psychological pressures that lead him to violence, and he identifies with the role with a performance in which he said he put in a physical effort and put a psychological burden on him throughout the filming of the Tunisian film “Beyond the Mountain” by Mohamed Ben Attia, which is supported by From the Red Sea International Film Festival, which was shown during its activities in Jeddah.
The events revolve around Rafiq, who suffers from breakdowns over the course of 4 years. He is imprisoned for sabotaging the office where he works, and he also attempts suicide. Rafiq is released from prison and kidnaps his son from his school, so their exciting journey begins.
Mastoura admits that the character exhausted him, pointing out that scenes in which he was running through the mountains took more than 8 hours to film and appeared on screen in only 5 seconds. He continued in his interview with Asharq Al-Awsat: “The scenes of the hero kidnapping his child and running with him for a distance of 25 kilometers in the desert are very exhausting.”
Tunisian artist Majd Mastoura (his Instagram account)
He adds: “The character involves violence in outlook and behavior, and she suffers from depression. She does not smile, laugh, or reveal the pressure inside her. Rather, she seems capable of exploding at any moment. It was difficult, but fortunately, I am with a director and a work team who are distinguished by their lightness of spirit.”
Regarding the keys to the character, the Tunisian actor says: “She has a psychological background and has a degree of mystery. In the beginning, Rafiq had everything that made him happy, including work and family, but circumstances led him into trouble and made everything around him fall apart.
Mastoura reveals that “preparation for the film took 6 years, since it was an idea that director Mohamed Ben Attia told me about. We conducted exercises for three months related to the details of (Rafiq), such as his walk, the pitch of his voice, and the way he speaks, as he expresses with his eyes and his labored way of breathing.”
The hero’s relationship with his child in the film seemed to be the only thing that encouraged him to live. Mastura narrates: “His only obsession is his son. He wants to become an actual father to him, especially since during his imprisonment, his wife and her father made the child understand that his father is a devil,” which affected the son’s outlook. To his father. So; He wanted to regain his fatherhood, as it is what he has left, and that is why he kidnapped him.”
Regarding the talented child, Walid Bouchiowa, who participated in the work, Mastoura says: “I met him and we quickly came to an understanding. A friendship was born between us, which is a mixture of fatherhood and sympathy on my part, as I do not have children in reality. He continues, laughing: “A seven-year-old still lives inside me.”
Rafiq discovers his ability to fly, so Majd Mastoura presents scenes in which he flies in the middle of the mountains, and explains that a team from France was used to implement them, adding: “I was afraid of it, so the director gave me a choice between performing it or hiring an alternative actor, so I decided to perform it myself, and I executed a flying scene with The child, while taking precautions, but I was unable to rise as high as required in one of the scenes, so the director hired an alternative.”
A still from the movie “Beyond the Mountain” (Mastura’s Instagram account)
“Beyond the Mountain” had its premiere at the last session of the Venice Film Festival. Regarding the reaction between Western and Arab audiences, Mastoura answers: “The film received a good reception, but it had a special impact on Arab viewers,” noting that it “raised questions in the West about expressing the crisis of suffocation of the Arab citizen, but the work does not talk about the Arab person.” “But about man in general when reality defeats him.”
The Tunisian artist won the “Silver Bear” award for best actor from the “Berlin Film Festival” in 2016 for his role in the film “We Love You, Hadi,” which brought him together for the first time with director Mohamed Ben Attia. About him, and about his cooperation with Ben Attia, Mastoura says: “In our first film (We Love You, Hadi), we did not know each other, but I met him at an audition. During the work, we discovered our closeness, and we found pleasure in our understanding of developing the scenario,” pointing out that “communication was easier in the new film, which made it an exceptional opportunity in my acting career.”
The “Berlin Festival” award led Mastura to the most important decision in his life (his Instagram account)
He adds that the Berlin Film Festival award made him make “the most important decision” in his life: “When filming the film, I was still new in this world, and I did not know whether I would take acting as a hobby or a profession, but the award gave me a kind of acceptance in Tunisia and abroad, and decided my mind.” “Towards acting being my path.”
