LFF 2010: Director Close-Up

RAMI KODEIH
LFF 2010 : Al Mathana

Born in a southern small city, Nabatieh in 1983, Rami Kodeih was graded excellent for his senior project, a short fiction film A Sheherazade Tale that made a big festivals’ tour around the world. Currently he's preparing his two short films and his first feature, and at the same time he's working as a Director for TV Documentaries, TVCs and Video Clips, as a Director/DOP in Documentaries.

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Congratulations on being selected for screening at this year's Lebanese Film Festival. Why did you submit your film to this particular festival?

First, I would like to thank the Lebanese Film Festival for selecting my short film.
A Sheherazade Tale was selected at LFF 2007. I think it was the best Lebanese screening for my first short film: it was the best audience quantity and quality wise.
In 2009, while i was working with Né à Beyrouth on a project, I showed Sandra (one of Né à Beyrouth's and LFF's family, hehe) an experimental video called P Like Pranoia. This happened by accident. It was also selected in the festival, in the Video Clip section!
So I think there is quite a good relation with Né à Beyrouth and the LFF family, whether work or festival wise.
Also, I think the audience of this festival is a very good audience.

"Al Mathana" is your second movie, in what doest it differ from "Sheherazade's Tale" ?

"Al Mathana", The Mill, is very different from A Sheherazade Tale... At the beginning, I thought I wanted to try to shoot something with the RED ONE camera. So I wrote a very low budget film, trying a style different from A Sheherazade Tale. Let's say that what happened was quite the opposite. It was a new experience for me when it comes to the story line, the style, the structure and the 'langage cinematographique'. The Mill was for me a big exercise and a tough experience, especially since I tried to direct the movie and play at the same time. That was really difficult.

The film is a criticism of how video games influence young people. According to you, how can we resolve this problem ?

While writing The Mill, I wasn't thinking of what I want to criticize. I just wrote it very spontaneously. I might be one of those influenced by video games, I don't know hehe... But anyway, it could be seen that way. As a result, I think there is no concrete solution, we are already surrounded by violence especially in our sensitive region.

What’s next ?

Now I'm working on some interesting documentaries for Al Jazeera, and I'm re-writing my feature film. Both the documentaries and the feature are also related to the youth living in our country and especially in Beirut.