After a red-carpet show at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, Lebanese filmmaker Sophie Boutros brings her debut feature film Mahbas (Solitaire) to the Dubai International Film Festival (Diff), which runs until December 14.
The romantic comedy sees Boutros and her co-writer, Nadia Eliewat, tackle the Lebanese-Syrian issue in a sensitive manner. The film begins with a scene where the lead character Therese (Julia Kassar) is seen making a racist comment as she has lost her beloved brother during a Syrian bombing. But, Boutros says the film does not endorse racism in any manner.
“[This is] social reality and usually it would be very difficult to do it [without being clashing]. Therefore we prefer to take a lighter approach, because racism is an extremely devastating phenomenon,” Boutros told the media at the press conference on Sunday. “It is a sensitive and controversial issue but I believe it would be wrong to not speak of it just because of the fear of being misunderstood. Yes, it’s a fact that Therese’s brother was killed in an explosion caused by Syrians but what’s more important is the fresh positive approach [we take] at the end of the film”.
Boutros says she and Jordanian Eliewat were not biased while writing the script and made several changes as it moved along.
“It might be easy to preach but it’s difficult to do it the other way round. We had a script doctor from Italy who encouraged us to go for the comic element. You would understand from the film that Therese is a special case because Ghada’s father is more accepting of the suitor, as is Solange, her friend. [At the same time] Samer’s family is upper-class Syrian. It’s a fact that some Lebanese do look down upon Syrians. But, you also see Nazek (Nadine Khoury) holds no special love for the Lebanese. She was proud of being a Syrian, proud that even after the long war they were more successful than us [Lebanese] in certain aspects,” explained Boutros.
Solitaire is a heart-warming love story between Ghada (Serena Chami), Therese’s daughter, and a young Syrian man, Samer (Jaber Jokhander). The film takes place more or less in the space of a day, when Samer and his parents, Riad (Bassam Koussa) and Nazek, arrive for the engagement at Ghada’s house. While Maurice (Ali Al Khalil), Ghada’s father, is more understanding of Samer’s nationality, it’s a bitter pill for Therese to swallow.
With a bevy of established actors such as Kassar, Koussa, Khoury and Al Khalil, Boutros told Gulf News tabloid! that it was a bit daunting directing them.
“Where can I start? It’s my first feature and every single detail [has been] a challenge — how daring can you be in writing and then how daring can you be in re-writing from scratch, how people would receive it — all this crossed our [Eliewat and my] minds,” she said. “Then, even though it’s more pleasant than fearful, the challenge of dealing with actors who have done way more work than you have. I wanted to earn their trust from the start because I felt this was the best and healthiest way to a good relationship.
“I’m lucky to have had people who were passionate about the story we wanted to tell. We wanted the film to have a heart-warming effect on the people, we wanted the love, the complex relationships to show, without exaggeration and nothing artificial. With a varied cast, including those not present here today [Koussa, Khoury, Al Khalil, Said Serhan and others], we were able to do that — of course, there’s always room for improvement — and I’m really proud of the outcome. We wanted an outcome that wouldn’t be sterile. We wanted people to raise questions and think about the values at the end of the film,” said Boutros.
WHAT THE ACTORS SAID
Julia Kassar (Therese)
“As women we naturally have ingrained in us tenderness and motherhood. I’m not a mother and neither have I been married,” said Kassar. “[Therese is a] more complex character because she deals like a strong woman — apparently a strong woman. She’s heart-broken because she’s lost her brother and dealing with that has taken her away from her family. She lives in past relations rather than take care of her present ones — she’s forgotten to be a good lover or a good mother. She realises her mistake and tries to regain her daughter’s confidence and husband’s respect.
“But, [as a woman] she hurts, too. Perhaps [Maurice, her husband] could get her out of this imprisonment of herself, try to understand her better. That’s why she is unable to accept his infidelity and decides to simply let bygones be bygones and start a new life alone”.
Betty Taoutel (Solange)
“Solange is a single woman who is a humorous character. Solange is very close to Therese and Ghada,” said Taoutel, who is a married woman with four children herself. “She is midway in age and in relation. She steps in as a mother to Ghada because there’s little affinity between Ghada and Therese. I tried to interpret this character in the lightest way because Solange is always there to relieve the stress in a scene. Yet, she is very intelligent and perceptive. She’s a very sensitive woman and her intelligence lies in the way she solves any situation”.
Serena Chami (Ghada)
“This is my first film and I’m thankful to Sophie for giving me this chance. Julia referred me to her and in the beginning there was a mix of feelings — fear, enthusiasm, confusion — I couldn’t believe it myself sometimes. But what helped me was that there was a lot of love in this team. Love from Sophia, Nadia and the eminent, experienced actors. You discover these actors are so good because they are so modest”.
Jaber Jokhader (Samer)
“When I read the script I found all the ingredients necessary for a successful film: interesting idea, intricate plot, and the interaction between us as Lebanese and Syrians. Everyone was concerned about the success of the film irrespective of where we were from. It was awesome, I was a little nervous but with a high level of adrenalin,” said Jokhander. “What’s most important about acting is that you are doing something that you enjoy. As far as my character is concerned, apart from being Syrian I don’t really identify very much with him. I identify more as the character Marwan (Ghada’s former boyfriend, played by Said Serhan)”.
Don’t miss it
Mahbas (Solitaire) will screen on December 14 at Mall of the Emirates Vox 3, at 2.30pm. For tickets, go to diff.ae.
