Muhammad Rashad: “The Colony” is a film that has a special reception… and my obsession with industrial areas led me to write it

After its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, and its success in winning the El Gouna Bronze Star for Best Feature Film at the eighth session of the El Gouna Film Festival, “The Colony” is preparing to… Director Mohamed Rashad to participate in the fifth session of the Red Sea International Film Festival, in a new stop on his journey that dedicates an Egyptian cinematic voice that insists on diving into the depths of marginalized society..

 

The film tells the story of two brothers who face a harsh reality after the death of their father in a mysterious work accident inside a factory. They are offered to work in the same place as compensation for the family, instead of filing a lawsuit. As they take up their new job, they begin to wonder whether their father’s death was preordained or planned, and so begins a journey full of questions about justice, dignity, and the true meaning of life. The generous.

 

In this interview, director Mohamed Rashad talks about the scenes of the film, his long journey until reaching the El Gouna Bronze Star for Best Feature Film, the meaning of the award to him, and his next steps.. So to the text of the interview

 

 

How was the idea of ​​the film “The Colony” born? Was it inspired by a real incident or by reflection on general reality?

 

The idea came from my obsession with industrial areas. It is also linked to my memories with my father. I used to see him every morning going to work while the factory car came to pick him up. This obsession appeared in my documentary “Little Eagles” because I love industrial areas and see them as visually rich areas. By chance, I was with a friend and we met another who told us that his father was a construction worker and fell from He rose to a high floor and died, so the company offered the son to work in his father’s place in exchange for not suing them. Indeed, the young man accepted the job because he had no other opportunities. At that time, I began to think: How can a person build his future on the incident of his father’s death? Hence the idea of ​​the film was born.

 

 

The film took five years to prepare and produce. Why so long? How did you maintain your enthusiasm for the project?

 

 

Preparation was very difficult, whether in choosing the filming locations or the actors, especially the child who played the role of the younger brother, “Maru.” But the biggest challenge was providing financing, because this type of film does not easily find someone to finance it, so it took a long time to gather support from more than one production body..

 

 

The film relied on natural performances from beginners and non-professional actors. Why did you choose this method? How did you manage them to achieve this honesty?

 

 

Indeed, some of the faces that appeared in the factory are real workers, and have no acting experience, and others are unknown to the public. The mother, for example, is a professor at the Film Institute but is not a well-known actress, and Imad Ghoneim participated in small roles in short films.

 

 

The truth is that my insistence that the actors be unknown to the audience stems from my desire for the viewer to feel that they are people from reality, in addition to the fact that I was looking for features that were sharp and natural to suit the nature of the film.

As for managing the acting, I always started by talking to the actors about the history of the characters: for example, with “Adham Shukr.” Who played the role of Hossam, I talked to him a lot about his relationship with his deceased father in the film, and I began to create situations between them so that he would understand the character’s history. I also talked to the mother about her memories with her husband and with her son before he left them. I also intended to

I let them spend time together to build the relationship between them, especially between the “Hossam” brothers. And “Maru”, so that the harmony between them appears natural in front of the camera.

 

 

The relationship between father and son seems to be a recurring theme in your films, as happened in your documentary “Little Eagles.” Is it a personal obsession for you?

 

 

I always wonder about the relationship between father and son: what do they expect from each other? In “Little Eagles” I came to terms with the idea that my father did what he could do, even if I was dissatisfied with him and vice versa, but in the end I realized that he loved me in his own way, butIn «the colony» The father remains present in the background as a shadow that drives events, and Hossam’s questions about him are repeated with Maro, because the little one puts his older brother in his father’s place..

 

 

The film premiered in Berlin, won an award in El Gouna, and will soon be shown in the Red Sea. What do these contributions add to you as an independent director?

 

 

Festivals for films such as “The Colony” It is a means of presentation and distribution more than anything else. I am happy that the film is being seen and appreciated, especially at major festivals..

 

 

The award also confirmed to me that I am on the right path, even if some people do not like the film, because I know that it is a film that has its own unique reception.

 

 

What is the next step after “the colony”? Are you thinking about a new project?

 

There are plans to show the film commercially soon. As a director, there is no specific project currently, only preliminary ideas that have not yet crystallized.

Now I am focusing on my production projects and working as a producer for director Nadine Salib’s film in collaboration with producer Hala Lotfy.