Indiana Daily Student
ARTS
Monday, Sept. 24, 2018 idsnews.com
Editors Lauren Fazekas and Hannah Reed arts@idsnews.com
9
Filmmaker El Said talks first feature film find the right balance between being a farmer and being a fisherman.
By Sarah Lloyd sadlloyd@iu.edu | @sxrxh99
Tamer El Said came to Bloomington 4 p.m. Friday at the IU Cinema for an onstage interview and a screening of “In the Last Days of the City.” “In the Last Days of the City” is El Said’s first feature film as director, according to the IU Cinema’s website. It is a fictional film about a filmmaker in Cairo, Egypt, who is trying to capture the city and everything changing around him. The feature was filmed in Egypt, Beirut, Baghdad and Berlin for two years before the eruption of a revolution in Egypt. The film is in Arabic but has English subtitles and is free but ticketed. The Indiana Daily Student spoke to El Said over the phone regarding his new film. Answers have been edited for clarity. Indiana Daily Student: What did you enjoy the most while directing this film? El Said: For me, filmmaking is a way of engaging with life. It’s a way to understand myself, and to work on myself to become a better person. I see filmmaking as a research project to find a way of engaging with the elements around me. In life, I have many questions and wonder about everything around me. Through making things I share these questions, and I even think of them differently. I try to de-
COURTESY PHOTO
“In the Last Days of the City” is a film by Egyptian film-director Tamar El Said. It was released in 2016.
velop a bit of understanding to the mystery around them. Did you see yourself reflected in the main character, played by Khalid Abdalla? In what ways? You know, I’m always asked this question, and my answer is no. It’s not an autobiography, for different reasons. I know that it’s a film about a filmmaker trying to make his success, which is very similar to my situation. There is even a lot of similarities between us, but basically when I look at this film, I don’t see myself. I would say it’s not an autobiographical film, it’s a
personal film, and there is a difference. A critic friend of mine called it an “autoportrait,” like a self-portrait. Which is very different than making a photograph. There are many things that I can define myself as this kind of character who has a very heavy past that he cannot get over his shoulders and living in a very suffocating present and can’t see a future. On the other hand, what I also say will help is this urge, this need to document and film things around him because he sees that everything will collapse and he wants to keep a memory or a moment from
what he is living through. This feeling that something big is going to happen and this will change everything around me, and the urge to film everything before it collapses is also something that I share with him. But, in general, I see Khalid as an independent character. We share things but he is very different than me in reality. How was filming this fictional film different than filming documentaries? This film was made in the blurry area between fiction and documentary. What I say to my students when we
speak about it is: when you make fiction, you are like a farmer. You water your seeds and you take care of your plants while they’re growing every day. Your work is based on patience. You give time and you take care of your plants every day. The more you give, the more you will get; a beautiful tree, or a very delicious fruit. When you make a documentary, you are like a fisherman. You cast your net and you hope that the sea will give you some fish, but part of your job is to trust the sea. If you don’t trust the sea, the sea won’t give you anything. So, making the film was to
What message do you want audiences to receive from watching this film? I want them to reflect and think of everything around them and share that with me. I don’t think a film should convey a certain moral or political matters. A film is a way of reflecting, using the image and sound in a creative way to express a position toward the whole world. I feel like the film should be a very personal experience, from the perspective of making it and also the perspective of watching it. For me, if I make a film that is unifying the audience with one message, I consider this a failure. It’s horrible. I don’t want to unify the people. I always say I project the film to the audience, but also the audience is projecting their lives on the film. I look for a very mutual and eye-to-eye level relation with the audience. I’m not there to educate them, or tell them how to live their lives. I’m there to share my questions with them. I think some things are giving answers and some things are raising questions. For me, I wish to raise questions more than give answers. I wish that every member of the audience is having a different experience with the film. The film was shown at 7 p.m. Saturday, with El Said present during the Friday screening.
Five for Fighting finishes tour at Buskirk-Chumley By David Brinson dabrinso@iu.edu
Five for Fighting and a string quartet performed at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater as football fans watched IU take on Michigan State in the bars down the street. “I’m not sure who planned a Five for Fighting concert the same night as an IU home game,” the band’s creator John Ondrasik said. “I’m just glad somebody showed up.” Ondrasik, better known as Five for Fighting, rose to fame in the early 2000s for a string of Billboard-topping hits. While Five for Fighting began as just his solo stage name, the inclusion of two violinists, a cellist and a viola player, have made the band an actual group of five. Ondrasik said the accompaniment of the string players have allowed him to pull different, more challenging songs out of his
catalog. “Along with some diversions into self-indulgence,” he said, laughing. Ondrasik provided many comedic moments throughout the night. He began by telling the crowd this was his second time in Bloomington this year, because of a college trip to IU with his son. The visit was in January and his son “decided he couldn’t handle the minus 20 degree windchill.” Later, he discussed the perils of being an aging musician who has to start hearing his songs on “oldie stations.” Another signature part of Five for Fighting’s performances are the contextual stories behind each song. Ondrasik, a natural born storyteller, discussed the sociopolitical climate of a post 9/11 United States which led to his break-out song, “Superman (It’s Not Easy),” becoming a grieving nation’s unofficial anthem.
ANDREW WILLIAMS | IDS
John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting performs, tells life stories and interacts with the crowd during his performance Sept. 22 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. Ondrasik alternated between a guitar and a piano and was accompanied by a string quartet as he performed fan favorites and popular singles.
Ondrasik and the string quartet played all his most famous sentimentally sweet, yet sad, songs, including, “Chances,” “The
Riddle” and “100 years.” The best parts of the night, however, were when they played things the crowd wasn’t expecting.
At one point, Ondrasik left the stage and let the quartet battle it out in “a musical war.” The last song they played of the night was a
drastically different version of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” with Ondrasik singing at the piano. Three freshmen at Bloomington High School North said unanimously that the reimagined Queen song was the highlight of the concert. “I kind of dragged them along,” Ella Mankowski said, pointing at her two friends. “I saw them in Chicago when I was really young. I’ve been listening to them my whole life.” After the encore, Michael Elliot, a retired music teacher, was in awe of the performers. “Oh, what a fun show. You don’t get to see people like this very often,” Elliot said. “The music, the words, the stage presence. It’s impossible how talented these people are. It looks effortless, but oh boy, you have no idea how hard it really is.”
2019 ARBUTUS YEARBOOK
Put Your Picture in the Book It’s free. It’s fast. What are you waiting for? Sign up now for this year’s portraits in the Arbutus Yearbook.
Sept. 24 - 28 812-855-9737 myseniorportrait.com
First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 205 E. Kirkwood Ave. 812-332-4459 • fccbloomington.org Sunday: 10 a.m. As God has welcomed us, we welcome you. With all our differences – in age, ability and physical condition, in race, cultural background and economic status, in sexual orientation, gender identity and family structure – God has received each one with loving kindness, patience and joy. All that we are together and all that we hope to be is made more perfect as the richness of varied lives meets the mystery of God’s unifying Spirit, and we become the Body of Christ. Pastor
Check
the IDS every Thursday for your directory of local religious organizations, or go online anytime at idsnews.com/religious.