Tea time with Tshweesh

An interview with Feyrouz Serhal, director of Tshweesh

 What does Tshweesh means?
It means white sound, it also means signal disruption, and to explain more, it is video and audio waves of interference.

 How long did you stay in Beirut to capture all the shots?
I live in Beirut, it is my city and the locations of the film are places that I know or am familiar with. I personally scouted for the locations so it took over a year, and then the DOP and I visited all the locations I was interested in and decided on our shots over 5 days. We shot the film over 8 intense days.

 How many of the sequences were made with actors?
Ninety percent of the sequences with people in them are made with actors. However, all the actors are non-professional actors, except for the main actress Petra Serhal who plays Lidia, who walks down the streets.

 Are the bombing sounds real or additional?
Most of the sound in the film including the bombs’ sounds is designed and done in post-production. The sound design of the bombs is based on real bombing and the effect of it on the human ear.

 While making Tshweesh, did you work on how people get accustomed to sounds and ambiance of war and violence?
The film in general is about a city and its citizens who are accustomed to war violence. The actors in the film are all Lebanese people who have had similar experiences of this kind. I have asked them to act out their reactions to the violent sound based on their own experience and then I directed the intensity of those reactions based on the violent development of the attack in the film.

 What is the ending song of Tshweesh and why did you pick that song in particular?
The film has lots of references from different time eras of the city of Beirut. Some references are from the 80s, given that one Israeli attack happened in 1982 during the Football World Cup. The ending song, Beyn L Byout (Among The Houses), is an 80s Lebanese song composed by Ghadi and Marwan Rahbani, sung by the late Lebanese singer Melhem Baraket. I chose this song because it is a happy song that comes on the radio to conquer and take over the audio threat sent by the Israelis ordering the people of Beirut to leave their city. The translation of some of the lyrics reads as follows: “Among the houses and the arcades there was rejoice… Among the houses, the beauty and the rendezvous there was bliss, the nights were all ours, oh that happy joyful time…”

 What sort of freedom would you say the short format allows?
Considering that short films should have to worry less about cinema release and the process of making money that feature films have to answer to, it does give the artist freedom. In short films, the narrative can be less conventional, a short film doesn’t need stars or big names to be able to sell eventually… and that’s how cinema started and how cinema should be. And on practical terms, being short by definition, short films usually need less shooting days and less team members, which means they require much less budget.
In short, short films do give us the hope that we can shoot more films, we just need the will and a bit of funding.

 If you’ve already been to Clermont-Ferrand, could you share with us an anecdote or story from the festival? If not, what are your expectations for this year?
It will be my first time at the festival. Being selected was a beautiful surprise. I usually don’t like to expect too much, so I can enjoy the experience as it really is.

 Are you taking part in other events during the Clermont-Ferrand film festival? (Espressos, Conferences, other?)
During my stay, I will definitely attend the market and some of the conferences, and since I am developing my feature film, I Am Here But You Can’t See Me, I’ll take advantage of being in the festival to look for partners who might join the team.