When Lebanese actor, director, playwright, and activist Lucien Bourjeily set out to write his first feature-length film, he wanted to create an engaging, thought-provoking work of art.
And that, he did.
Titled "Heaven Without People (Ghada'a El Eid)," his debut film tells the story of a Lebanese family who gathers together to celebrate Easter lunch, only for the gathering to spiral down into chaos, revealing "underlying tensions between its members."
The feature premiered at last year's Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF,) polarizing audiences and judges alike.
It also ended up winning the festival's special grand jury prize and has now been picked up for distribution in cinemas across the Middle East.
Speaking to StepFeed, Bourjeily tells us more about the vision behind the film, its success, and upcoming release in theaters.
On the feature's story
When asked to tell us a little more about the story of his film, the filmmaker, who has a repertoire of impressive theater productions under his belt, said:
"The film follows the story of a woman named Josephine, the matriarch of a sprawling Lebanese family who's delighted to gather everyone for Easter lunch for the first time in two years. While the family shares a joyful meal together, an incident ignites underlying tensions between its members, gradually leading them into chaos."
On working with a team of up and coming actors
Having previously worked with amateur actors on plays, including Love and War on the Rooftop, it isn't too surprising that Bourjeily cast a group of people, most of whom have never acted in feature-length films before, to star in his debut film.
One of them is Farah Shaer, a talented up and coming Lebanese actress, filmmaker, and producer, who stars in the film and is also its co-producer.
Speaking to StepFeed, Shaer told us more about what it was like shooting for the film.
"The film is about a family and the deep relationships between its members. We rehearsed for it for weeks in camp-like style, which allowed us as a cast to plunge into this intimate, immersive process together. Eventually, when we started shooting, we'd already spent so much time together and knew one another very well. The close bonds we created and connections we formed were reflected on screen," she said.
When asked about her experience in co-producing the film alongside Bourjeily, she said:
"I firmly believed in this film’s vision from the first day Lucien approached me with its script and asked if we could collaborate on the production. The feature's script had a raw, life-like spontaneity, which is something rarely seen in Lebanese screenplays," she added.
On the vision behind creating an independent hit
When asked to tell us more about the process of making the film, Bourjeily said:
"This film is an accumulation of years of observations of daily life and relationships in post war Lebanon presented in a 'slice of life,' kind of format. It cannot truly be classified as a comedy nor as a drama, it’s just our life as we know it which includes many moments of joy as well as sadness, in addition to a whole range of other emotions. The way these moments and their accompanying emotions affect us ultimately depends on our own life experiences. A moment or situation that might make someone laugh or happy, might make another person cry or feel angry."
Bourjeily, who's a prominent activist for social change in Lebanon, explained that the main vision behind all of his work, including his latest film, is to create meaningful works of art.
"As a storyteller, I don’t like nor try to force any judgment, special message, or specific idea on the audience but rather lay down what is there, what I feel might be interesting to connect with, and what I think allows the audience to become an active participant in the art," he explained.
"My key vision is always to create art that is thought-provoking and engaging, art that we enjoy and that stimulates our thoughts as well as our hearts," he added.
On winning a prestigious award at the Dubai International Film Festival
In November 2017, Heaven Without People (Ghada'a El Eid) premiered at the Dubai International Film Festival and ended up winning the prestigious Special Jury Prize Muhr Feature award.
When asked about the film's success at the festival, Bourjeily said:
"It was a great honor and a pleasant surprise for me and all the actors and crew, especially since this is the film’s first festival participation and the competition in Dubai included excellent films from all the Arab countries. I had the opportunity to watch some of them during the festival, and of course they deserved to win as well."
"It is a truly honored distinction to the film and to Lebanese cinema in general from a committee of international juries headed by German actress Martina Gedek," he added.
Since premiering in Dubai, the film has gone on to garner success in Lebanon and countries across the world.
It was recently selected to close the 24th European Film Festival which is currently taking place in Beirut.
The feature will also premiere in the U.S. as part of the 28th Cinequest Film Festival later this year and will compete for a top award there.
On the film's upcoming theatrical release
As the film continues its successful festival run, MC Distribution, an independent Lebanese acquisitions company, picked it up for distribution in the Middle East.
Heaven Without People (Ghada'a El Eid) will soon be hitting theaters across the region and is set to be released in Lebanese cinemas on the first of March, 2018.
On his message to young Arab filmmakers
Towards the end of our interview, the talented filmmaker spoke of his gratitude to everyone who was involved in creating his first feature.
"Without my amazing cast and crew and all their passionate hard work, this film wouldn’t have been such a success. From the first casting that we did until the very last stages of color correction and sound mixing, everyone put their unique touch on this film. I was truly fortunate to work with them all on bringing this story to life."
He also shared an inspiring word of advice with aspiring Arab artists, writers, and filmmakers, saying:
"I advise them to take their time and not rush into an artistic project if they are not fully passionate about it because they risk suffocating their passion for art this way. Life is short and it would be truly unfortunate that someone would waste their artistic talent and effort doing something they are not entirely convinced of just for the sake of 'doing something,' or because of financial constraints. Better be patient until all the right elements align and mature and they will, because ultimately a good story will find its way into production as there’s always someone who will be passionate enough to make sure it gets done," he said.
"I also want them to know that we are all in this together: help and support each other (as fellow filmmakers) so as we bring the Arab cinema industry to life, each and every film being made is a positive achievement and contributes to the whole industry’s success by association," he added.