This is what the children of the film “The Idol” (Ya Tir Ettayer) are trying to make the truthful story of Mohamed Assaf, the young Palestinian singer having won the competition for the second edition of the television program “The Arab Idol”.
After “Paradise Now” (Golden Globe for the best foreign language film in 2006) and “Omar” (Jury Prize for the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013 And Golden Tanit at JCC 2014), two films which earned him two nominations to the Oscars of the best film in a foreign language, Hany Abu Assad Returns with a third film “The Idol” with in the main roles Tawfeek Barhom and the children Hiba Atallah, Kaies Atallah, Ahmed Kacem and Abdel Kareem Brarakeh.
This very beautiful feature film tells the story of four Palestinian children who want to constitute a music group, sing and one day succeed in performing at the Cairo Opera.
Stimulated by the little Nour, the group’s locomotive, who tells them and repeats tirelessly: “When we are big, we will change the world!”, They will work hard to pick up enough money and buy musical instruments. When they get there, they will be hired to sing in various parties and weddings. They will put the whole will of the world to realize their dream.
Years go by, Mohamed Assaf is a taxi driver to be able to pay for his studies, but he has not abandoned the song. More than ever he holds up on his dream: singing in Egypt and participating in the program “The Arab Idol”. For this he is ready for anything, including passing the border with false papers, which he will do. Arrived in Egypt, his voice allows him to be selected from the finalists. Which will lead him to Lebanon for the final evening. Great pride for all the Palestinians.
At the end of the film and the evening, reality will catch up with the fiction and the face of the real Mohamed Assaf (who really sings all the songs in the film) will replace the face of actor Tawfeek Barhom who plays the role. Real images of public jubilation in Palestine will also be encrusted in the film.
This very optimistic film, without being neither political or religious, gives a voice to the Palestinians and shows that with will, we can manage to realize his dream. It allows the director, through a real story that ends very well, to tell the daily life of the Gazaouis, their aspirations, their ambitions and to make their voices heard all over the world thanks to this young Mohammed Assaf who will become a kind of spokesperson for his people.
Hany Abu Assad wanted to shoot all the external scenes in Gaza, Cairo and Lebanon to give his story greater sincerity. According to him, authenticity is the key to this film. It was precisely this search for authenticity that pushed him to defy the dangers and logistical difficulties and to shoot his film almost entirely in Gaza, which has not done any director for at least twenty years. This desire for authenticity also pushed him to choose children who really lived in Gaza. After many research in various schools and institutions, he ended up finding these four pre -adolescents, of which it is the first cinematographic experience, but which were naturally incredible!
The images of the ruins, kilometers of barbed wire, of this city devastated by bombings … allow spectators to discover Gaza and achieve all the sufferings it undergoes from the Israeli colonist. Hany Abu Assad films with subtlety and shows the contrast between all this ugliness and the joy of children who play by bike throughout a huge barbed wire wall, transform the ruins into a playground, still dare to dream of a bright future and fight to build it. He even manages to make people laugh with the daily setbacks of these people who manage to live with power cuts, devices that do not work like the generator that smokes the room in which Mohamed Assaf tries to sing … In fact, the director suggests more than he shows the problems of the inhabitants of Gaza.
“I see” The Idol “as the story of a fight and the will to survive in extreme conditions. It is a story of hope and success, where a brother and a sister were able to make their drawbacks an advantage, and the impossible one possible, and which left nothing could overcome all obstacles, overcome poverty, oppression and occupation. They had the capacity to convert ugly in beauty, which, in the end, is the power behind all art and the energy to nourish hope, ”said Hany Abu Assad of his film. And he added: “This film was designed as a film without cultural barriers. You could be Chinese, American or Palestinian and appreciate it. Very old and very young can all understand the trip. He crosses religious lines. I did it expressly take a very specific story and put it in a broader context ”.
It should be noted that the story of this film has transformed into reality for these four children. They were finally able to know the world outside of Gaza. The little girl who plays Nour was able to get out of Palestine with her family. They are looking for asylum in Europe as a refugee. The three boys were able to travel to Canada to attend the screening of the film at the Toronto Festival. They were offered to take care of their studies. There was even a proposal to adopt one of them.
This film, which is suitable for both adults and children is currently screened at the Amilcar cinema in El Manar and Cinémadart in Carthage. Not to be missed.
Neila Driss
