Avant Premiere of Rock The Casbah

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Sep 2014

Social Event Beirut Souks by Cinemacity

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Beirut Souks Beirut-Downtown Social Event Avant Premiere of Rock The Casbah Lebanon

Rock the Casbah, a French Moroccan film written and directed by Laila Marrakchi has been released in Lebanon on September 4^th, 2014. The premiere was crowded, not only to encourage Arabic movies in Lebanon, but also to support the Lebanese Director/Actress Nadine Labaki who played one of the daughters in the movie. The movie is about a 3 day funeral of a rich entrepreneur in the presence of his wife, and three daughters, one of whom came back from the USA with her only child after a very long absence. When I say funeral, you jump into conclusions, but no, the movie is quite entertaining and funny. It smoothly delivers a message of how women thrive to grow stronger in these societies, but also proves that family always comes first. One sentence has captivated me the most in this movie, and it was how it ended; "Never make a woman cry, as God counts her every tear..."

Beiruting has managed to have an exclusive interview with the director Laila Marrakchi, she mentioned that the film was shot in Tangier; but she couldn't elaborate on the movie as she wanted us to explore it ourselves. When asked what she thinks of the diversity of the actors and actresses, she mentioned that there was no idea behind the diversity, that she chose actors because they are good for the act and they embodied the character she was looking for; "I was lucky to work with them, these great actresses, I didn't want to tell an American story, I wanted to open it to the Arab world." She added; "The reviews are good so far, we presented the film at Dubai film festival and many other Arabic festivals, but have received no negative criticism so far, thankfully." The title is inspired from Rock the Casbah the song of the Clash, she found it interesting to the film. There is no direct relation with it but the spirit is there; the child rebels against her family as she comes back for the funeral of her father and the secrets start revealing, so she is here to rock the Casbah. She concluded; "I am very happy to be here because of Nadine and many others and as the movie is released today I hope you enjoy it."

Beiruting also had the chance to interview the Lebanese director Nadine Labaki. When asked to comment about the movie, she replied; "I have watched the movie once and it was not completely edited and finished so today I will explore it again and it is exciting as a viewer discovering the movie for the first time. The experience was amazing; we literally lived together, I got to know all those people and created a new family. It is enriching to work with those actors where their various backgrounds and cultures are united in one movie. I am a person who monitors a lot, so it deepened my knowledge of how actors think and I got to know their needs, so as a director, I understand the actor better now. It is the difference in personalities and not in nationalities that mattered the most." When asked about her upcoming plans, she mentioned, "Rio I love you" where there are 10 directors in this movie, every director took part of it. She is also writing a new movie but didn't disclose anything about it. When asked how she chooses her actors; "I choose random people, not only professionals, because when I see someone who fits the character I go for it, but I choose actors not only on their talents but how they embrace the character I want."