A love letter | رسالة حب

In this episode of Yasir Alyasiri's (Masmoo) Podcast, Yasir reflects on the journey of directing the music video "Sha'elha" for Iraqi artist Shatha Hassoun in 2011. This project was a significant opportunity for Yasir to pay tribute to his homeland, Iraq, by weaving in fragments of his childhood memories and experiences. Faced with the challenge of filming in Baghdad, Yasir took on the ambitious task of recreating the essence of the city on the streets of Lebanon.

Yasir shares the intricate details behind this production, from capturing the atmosphere of Baghdad to navigating the technical and logistical challenges that came with shooting abroad. He provides insights into the creative process, the emotions involved in bringing his vision to life, and the impact of honoring his roots through art.

Join Yasir as he delves into the story of "Sha'elha," a music video that became more than just a project—it became a love letter to Iraq and a testament to the power of creativity in overcoming obstacles.

حلقة: رسالة حب - إعادة خلق بغداد في لبنان

في هذه الحلقة من بودكاست ياسر الياسري (مسموع)، يسترجع ياسر ذكرياته حول تجربة إخراج فيديو كليب "شاعلها" للفنانة العراقية شذى حسون في عام 2011. كان هذا المشروع فرصة مهمة لياسر لتقديم تحية لبلده العراق، من خلال دمج أجزاء من طفولته وذكرياته في العمل. في وقت كان فيه التصوير في بغداد شبه مستحيل، خاض ياسر تحدي إعادة خلق أجواء المدينة في شوارع لبنان.

يشارك ياسر التفاصيل الدقيقة وراء هذا الإنتاج، من محاولة تجسيد روح بغداد إلى التعامل مع التحديات التقنية واللوجستية التي صاحبت التصوير في الخارج. يتحدث عن العملية الإبداعية، والمشاعر التي رافقت تحقيق رؤيته، وتأثير تكريم جذوره من خلال الفن.

انضموا إلى ياسر في هذه الحلقة التي يستعرض فيها قصة "شاعلها"، العمل الذي أصبح أكثر من مجرد مشروع—بل رسالة حب للعراق وشهادة على قوة الإبداع في التغلب على العقبات.

Transcript

0:00:11.080,0:00:13.519
How can

0:00:15.000,0:00:24.800
I live for eight years while I have been waiting to be reunited with the artist Shatha Hassoun? How was he dealing with

0:00:24.800,0:00:30.840
the Baghdad and Iraqi atmosphere? We lived in the streets of Lebanon.

0:00:30.840,0:00:38.040
All these topics and more. We will discuss them in episode 13 of the Audible Podcast with me, Yasser

0:00:38.040,0:00:46.039
Al-Yasiri. In the previous episode, I said that he came to me, meaning between the end of 2010

0:00:46.039,0:00:54.359
and 1 year. I have almost been waiting, meaning for eight years, and this work was the right opportunity

0:00:54.359,0:01:00.559
to do something specific that I have wanted to do from the beginning. Today we will talk about my topic that touches every

0:01:00.559,0:01:06.479
artist, especially directors who combine more than one environment and culture. I mean, it is true that I live

0:01:06.479,0:01:12.200
in the Emirates, but I am fundamentalist and my memories extend to Iraq. The country in which I grew up and in which

0:01:12.200,0:01:17.680
my hobby was formed from my ideas and visions. I want to present any artistic work. I always feel that the influence of my

0:01:17.680,0:01:23.520
Iraqi identity merges and becomes an integral part of what I present. The environment in which the artist grows up

0:01:23.520,0:01:30.799
does not only shape his way of thinking, it does not even affect his aesthetic sense and artistic choices. From the story

0:01:30.799,0:01:36.560
to all the small details. Secondly, today I want to talk about how identity and homeland can

0:01:36.560,0:01:42.040
become a source of inspiration and how the past that we live in is reflected in the future of our artistic works.

0:01:42.040,0:01:49.719
This thing happened with this work. I mean, as I said, at the end of 2010 and 2011, I received a call from

0:01:49.719,0:01:56.479
the artist Shaz Hassoun and the artist Shaz Hassoun, of course. It needs no introduction, and at the time it meant that

0:01:56.479,0:02:03.439
recently, not a long time ago, it won the title of Star Academy, and for people who do not remember this

0:02:03.439,0:02:09.800
stage, that stage was formed. I mean, how did Iraq win the Asian Cup in 2007? Shaz Hassoun’s victory

0:02:09.800,0:02:15.160
meant the same thing. There were demonstrations in Iraq and people were no longer

0:02:15.160,0:02:22.800
celebrating, meaning Iraq. Always behind what happened, I mean, an extension of approximately, let's say from

0:02:22.800,0:02:30.599
0 from the year 1980 to 2003, and the events that happened after that always feel like the

0:02:30.599,0:02:38.200
Iraqi people are searching for any reason to rejoice and unite them, because Iraq has a hobby, there are sects, a hobby, there are sects,

0:02:38.200,0:02:46.440
and a hobby of different nationalities, all of them living in this country. With a long history, these

0:02:46.440,0:02:53.200
components that exist in Iraqi society always feel that they are running after the reasons that

0:02:53.200,0:03:00.360
unite them, despite all the negative factors that could necessarily lead to the fact that

0:03:00.360,0:03:08.720
these components are supposed to disperse or fight among themselves in any other country, but in Iraq it is an example

0:03:08.720,0:03:14.680
of coexistence and fusion. These cultures even form a wonderful societal painting called Iraq. People

0:03:14.680,0:03:20.599
remember what happened, meaning after 2004, and the days that, God willing, will not

0:03:20.599,0:03:27.760
be repeated. I mean, the semi-sectarian war. After this, I mean history, people were always looking

0:03:27.760,0:03:35.159
for a reason to bring them together. Among the reasons that brought them together, one of them was the Asian Cup, and the reason.

0:03:35.159,0:03:41.040
I mean, what I am about to mention now is the artist Shatha Hassoun winning Star Academy. I mean,

0:03:41.040,0:03:47.480
today’s generation may feel that it is reasonable. I mean, an artist or an artist wins a talent show that

0:03:47.480,0:03:52.680
people show off in rallies. I mean, what should I say? Look, go back to YouTube and see what happened in Iraq

0:03:52.680,0:03:58.560
and the international channels. How did I transmit this thing and I am based on experience? In particular, I remember the day she

0:03:58.560,0:04:06.959
won. I was filming, I think, in Beirut. The producer came to me. She said to me, “Congratulations. Congratulations, Yasser

0:04:06.959,0:04:15.760
. Congratulations. What happened?” I mean, she told me, “Shatha Hassoun” won the Star Academy. I mean, “

0:04:15.760,0:04:23.880
Kan Event” and “Shad Hassoun,” then she started doing solo work with her, and “Kanan” had a very

0:04:23.880,0:04:32.639
strong influence. On the Iraqi scene, frankness means Iraq, after a period of seclusion, after a period of

0:04:32.639,0:04:41.600
seclusion, but due to the lack of communication with the Arab world, Shatha Hassoun’s victory is a form that means

0:04:41.600,0:04:50.080
openness to this world. In 2011, she spoke to me, meaning we talked, and she said to me

0:04:50.080,0:04:56.800
that I would like him to make a video clip of Sawa and Me. I told her, “Okay, okay,” and at this moment,

0:04:56.800,0:05:01.160
I didn’t mean to be honest about what kind of work I wanted to do for her, because after me,

0:05:01.160,0:05:08.360
I hadn’t even heard the song, so she said to me, “Let’s meet,” and so on, but before we meet, I mean, if you can

0:05:08.360,0:05:15.199
hear the work, the work was already composed by the great artist, the ambassador of the compositions. Vice Saeed

0:05:15.199,0:05:22.759
and the words of the great, great poet, Karim Al-Iraqi, may God have mercy on him. The song’s name is Sha’elha, so if

0:05:22.759,0:05:27.400
you can pass by Vice and hear it, that means everything will be fine, because I don’t have a copy of it. I told her, “

0:05:27.400,0:05:33.199
Okay,” so I actually communicated with the artist, Fais Al-Saeed, and went to the studio and heard the song. The song

0:05:33.199,0:05:42.319
is nice. I liked everything, but the thing is what I mean. It came to my mind that it was the right song

0:05:42.319,0:05:48.919
to do something that I had always wanted to do, especially at this stage. I mean, as a director, I had reached

0:05:48.919,0:05:57.800
sufficient maturity and mastery of the tools that I felt that I had to present something related to Iraq,

0:05:57.800,0:06:06.240
because I am of course Iraqi, and I loved the idea of ​​this clip as being all things. What I remember is that it is

0:06:06.240,0:06:13.039
from my childhood and all the beautiful things that exist in the Iraqi environment and Baghdad in particular

0:06:13.039,0:06:20.919
. I mean, I watch it in the clip, but of course, there are definitely difficulties. I mean, it is the hobby of the owner of this thing, but

0:06:20.919,0:06:26.720
this means that the first time I heard the song, regardless of what the story is, I will settle the details

0:06:26.720,0:06:32.520
that we will talk about. After a while, this is the thing that came to my mind first and always on

0:06:32.520,0:06:39.400
my mind. I mean, artists in general, I mean, they try to

0:06:39.400,0:06:47.960
project from their environment, from their culture, from their memories from their childhood, onto their works. I mean, for example, I remember

0:06:47.960,0:06:55.319
a saying by the Russian director Andrea Trako Veske, who says that art is not a mirror of reality. A hammer shapes

0:06:55.319,0:07:04.160
reality. I mean, not. Art always reflects a certain reality, but you shape it with your feelings as a person

0:07:04.160,0:07:12.280
Because reality is different from one person to another, it is shaped according to the subconscious mind, according to the imagination,

0:07:12.280,0:07:18.800
according to the memories, according to the things that you experience during this memory. You will let the art be shaped

0:07:18.800,0:07:25.440
and printed according to this vision and according to this experience. It means that it is not a mirror of reality, because reality

0:07:25.440,0:07:32.720
will inevitably differ artistically from one person to another. I mean, for example, I remember what the Finnish director

0:07:32.720,0:07:40.639
Aki Koris Mäki said: The film must be a reflection of its place. It must be rooted in

0:07:40.639,0:07:46.800
the environment from which it came. These things and these projections are very important for any artist, because

0:07:46.800,0:07:55.199
any director or any artist always feels that if the work came from his environment, it will be... It is different, and it means more like

0:07:55.199,0:08:01.919
a love letter than to these memories, and there is no condition that these memories are always beautiful. By the way,

0:08:01.919,0:08:08.960
the director or artist may be discussing difficult memories for him, but when

0:08:08.960,0:08:16.280
he discusses this thing, he feels like he is like someone who has marked a page of his life and stamped his opinion on it

0:08:16.280,0:08:25.159
. It is of great importance, so I called Shaza, who was already settled in Lebanon, and she said that she would come,

0:08:25.159,0:08:31.599
I mean, next week to Dubai, and she actually came and we went. I remember we sat in a hotel in Dubai in

0:08:31.599,0:08:37.760
the Royal Mirage, if I remember correctly, I mean, the time was a little nice, I mean, I think it

0:08:37.760,0:08:44.959
was winter, I mean, so we sat in the coffee shop, I mean, it was. The first thing was an introduction session, more than a

0:08:44.959,0:08:51.080
business session in itself. She asked me that she had heard the song, so I told him that I had heard the song, and

0:08:51.080,0:09:00.360
I liked the song very much, and the idea I had was that I would tell the story from the purely Iraqi environment, and the

0:09:00.360,0:09:10.000
Baghdad environment in particular, and what I had in mind was that I would go for a period, meaning the forties

0:09:10.000,0:09:17.120
and thirties, because I said that it would. I mean, the period has ended, and I have sufficient experience and ability as a director.

0:09:17.120,0:09:23.600
How can I create the work I want to make? Other than the fact that I want to make the work

0:09:23.600,0:09:30.320
that is related to the Iraqi and Baghdad environment, I must take into account that the video clip must appear

0:09:30.320,0:09:36.519
with all its aesthetics and with all its other factors, and it must also appear beautiful. I mean, it has become as I said.

0:09:36.519,0:09:42.920
Sufficient experience is that how should I deal with the video clip so that it has a distinct impact and impact

0:09:42.920,0:09:48.839
on the scene when it comes out? It is a shame. I mean, I very much like the topic

0:09:48.839,0:09:55.560
. I mean, it was as if I felt like I brought her the idea that she had not had in mind, but the idea that she was

0:09:55.560,0:10:01.160
missing. She said to me, “It’s all right. I hope you see what the arrangement is.” What you have settled, I said, okay

0:10:01.160,0:10:08.440
, God willing, let me sit on the song, compose the story board, and see where the idea is in the best place

0:10:08.440,0:10:16.200
to implement it, because unfortunately, during that period, it was still difficult for Iraq to be filmed.

0:10:16.200,0:10:21.680
I mean, I certainly hoped that he would film in Iraq, but the circumstances of the country at the time made it necessary for him to do so.

0:10:21.680,0:10:28.120
I photograph abroad, meaning I do not have to develop the idea. I must choose the appropriate country and place in which to

0:10:28.120,0:10:35.839
develop this idea. Being that I am Iraqi means that I am Iraqi, and that Shadha Hassoun is Iraqi. The work must come out.

0:10:35.839,0:10:41.760
I mean, there is no mistake in terms of details. I mean, no second Iraqi person will say that, by God,

0:10:41.760,0:10:48.000
you are Iraqis and you do not know how to do anything Iraqi. The topic was very sensitive to the factors I

0:10:48.000,0:10:53.079
mentioned, and the difficulty of filming in Iraq, so this would be an added problem, so

0:10:53.079,0:11:00.079
I took the song and kept listening to it, and it was perhaps the easiest and most enjoyable

0:11:00.079,0:11:06.279
of the storyboards and scripts that I write in the songs. I think this song

0:11:06.279,0:11:11.440
is because the whole topic was very fluid in relation to the whole topic.

0:11:11.440,0:11:19.519
It was very natural, meaning the ideas were It is about pictures from my childhood memories of the things that

0:11:19.519,0:11:27.079
I know about about about Iraq and Baghdad, so it was very easy and enjoyable. I remember to write

0:11:27.079,0:11:34.680
and replace the idea I have with it, so I keep purifying between these ten, think about the best idea that I

0:11:34.680,0:11:41.560
want to use, the best idea for the story and for the greater goal. As for what it is, I am writing a work

0:11:41.560,0:11:50.360
that is a love letter to my country, to Iraq, and to Baghdad, so I interpreted the story as meaning

0:11:50.360,0:11:57.720
neighbors, which of course means it is considered a cliché or considered one of the stereotypical stories, but this is the goal.

0:11:57.720,0:12:07.800
The goal means that it turns out to be a very cliché and stereotypical Iraqi story and brings down all the memories in it. The beautiful visual

0:12:07.800,0:12:15.199
that I know about Iraq or that I want to present to the Arab world about Iraq.

0:12:15.199,0:12:22.399
The idea is simply that two lovers are neighbors, meaning they are talking from one rooftop, and brother

0:12:22.399,0:12:31.440
, his lover sees that at the beginning of the clip she discovers that her lover is going to a cabaret or to the club and, oh,

0:12:31.440,0:12:40.680
his friends, and he is sitting to see a new dancer coming to the club. I mean, you get upset with him, and you start to

0:12:40.680,0:12:48.120
arouse his jealousy after other situations, I mean, in the street, for example, you give him the chance that he gets a little

0:12:48.120,0:12:53.839
angry with the other guy, so he gets more angry and goes to fight with him. I mean, you try to tease him

0:12:53.839,0:13:01.240
and provoke him so that you know his own value, I mean, and you know his value. The mistake that is made together is that when

0:13:01.240,0:13:08.560
he went to the club, I mean, so she used This is the idea in a simplified form, but the details

0:13:08.560,0:13:16.160
were the most important topic, so I wrote it completely with all the details at the time.

0:13:16.160,0:13:22.839
Of course, I did not mean that great research on Iraqi things,

0:13:22.839,0:13:29.880
especially since I know that I will be filming it not in Iraq, so I need a visual reference to tell it to people who

0:13:29.880,0:13:36.120
are not Iraqis so that they will be surprised by how it is. We have to do this thing, so I sat on Google and looked at

0:13:36.120,0:13:42.000
the pictures, but of course I wasn't an artificial intelligence, nor was I any of these things. I had to

0:13:42.000,0:13:49.320
put pictures in every place, for every memory I have. In my brain, I had to explain it to people who were not Iraqis.

0:13:49.320,0:13:57.480
How could it be done? I made a very precise and detailed mode board, and the mode board is... Sit down

0:13:57.480,0:14:02.480
I mean, for each scene, what is the mode that will appear from it? I mean,

0:14:02.480,0:14:11.040
the motherboard usually consists of maybe pictures of clothes, pictures of decoration, the type of lighting. I mean, what is the full mode for this

0:14:11.040,0:14:16.600
scene, how is it supposed to appear? Other than this, I have to create, for example, separate files that are

0:14:16.600,0:14:23.240
the details of the clothing path for each actor for the extras for the general mode.

0:14:23.240,0:14:26.959
Then I will make another separate file

0:14:27.440,0:14:35.240
for the broadcast props, which means the accessories that we will use in the filming. In addition,

0:14:35.240,0:14:40.360
I know that I will work on it, and you people are not Iraqis, and in fact, this is what happened in the end, that

0:14:40.360,0:14:46.880
I may be the only Iraqi, myself and Shaz Hassoun, on the filming site, so I have to explain all these

0:14:46.880,0:14:52.240
things to them in particular. The things that need to be settled now, I will tell you some details about what we

0:14:52.240,0:15:00.160
did together to be able to achieve this thing, so I settled all these details, and it took me some time to be

0:15:00.160,0:15:07.800
accurate, and I agreed, and oh, I said, since she already lives in Beirut, and the ball she has

0:15:07.800,0:15:15.320
means makeup and hair. I'm originally from Lebanon, so I'm like Beirut and Beirut, I mean, I can

0:15:15.320,0:15:23.040
go there, maybe places that resemble Iraq, I mean, that's the first impression, so I told him, okay, we're going to

0:15:23.040,0:15:29.319
film Beirut, and we agreed on the budget and the things that I wouldn't be honest about, meaning

0:15:29.319,0:15:35.959
it's difficult, and I traveled. I went to Beirut and sat with him, the producer.

0:15:35.959,0:15:41.720
It was Haifa Fakih and I sat with him. I explained the story and narrated the things,

0:15:41.720,0:15:48.199
and I told her that the most important thing in this clip is the details, because that means I will scrutinize every detail. There are

0:15:48.199,0:15:55.800
things that if we find her, she is in Beirut herself, and I am giving her a proof that she really looks like

0:15:55.800,0:16:03.560
an Iraqi, so we use it. If not, we must go back and go around and do research, so I understood her with the difficulty of the work.

0:16:03.560,0:16:09.800
From these aspects, we want to move to the heads of the important departments in the work, of course, other than we said

0:16:09.800,0:16:15.600
the make-up was originally from Lebanon. What a hair, Joe Raad was originally, and what a shame from

0:16:15.600,0:16:23.279
the crew. She didn’t choose Production Designer Sharif to greet me, and the group

0:16:23.279,0:16:29.800
that was Mahmoud Shania wanted clothes, so I sat explaining. For them, and of course, for them, it means

0:16:29.800,0:16:36.480
that they are from the same environment. There are things that they understand. They say, “Oh, this is the same as we have in Lebanon.” In fact,

0:16:36.480,0:16:44.279
things are 100% similar. And there are things that they do not understand and they wanted, for example, to volunteer in some way until it appears

0:16:44.279,0:16:50.519
similar to the things that they understand, of course. But I refused because the topic had to come up. Purely Iraqi, I mean,

0:16:50.519,0:16:57.639
and I can't even ignore this thing, and like the American director John Ford said, you can't

0:16:57.639,0:17:03.720
make good films if you don't know anything about the place you're talking about, so actually,

0:17:03.720,0:17:10.880
this means difficulty for them, and I know about this thing, because I was meant as a link and a link.

0:17:10.880,0:17:19.679
The reviewer, the owner of the idea and the owner of the vision, it was a double effort for me, but it is a beautiful effort. I mean, I was

0:17:19.679,0:17:28.880
enjoying every moment of it. I mean, after we chose the heads of the departments, the next stage,

0:17:28.880,0:17:36.080
and the most important thing is that he presented the location. I mean, I explained from the pictures and so on. They told me that it

0:17:36.080,0:17:43.880
means they nominated me among the places in Beirut. And places in Sidon and places in Tyre. We were happy

0:17:43.880,0:17:48.840
to see the places in Beirut. I didn’t like them. I remember until

0:17:48.840,0:17:55.480
we went to the suburb in Beirut. I didn’t feel it was close to what I wanted to

0:17:55.480,0:18:01.919
do. We then went to Sidon. I didn’t like it. We went to Tyre. I didn’t like it at first. Then we

0:18:01.919,0:18:08.159
were back on the road and we stopped in a place I remember. They even said, “This is a place that makes a famous juice. I don’t know what it is.”

0:18:08.159,0:18:16.039
I mean, it’s almost by the sea. So we stopped drinking the juice, and I was walking in the area.

0:18:16.039,0:18:21.640
I mean, the concepts were what I wanted and the place I was looking for, and what we are actually going back to.

0:18:21.640,0:18:27.559
I mean, we didn’t mean pictures outside of the topic and we were standing drinking juice. The place behind

0:18:27.559,0:18:32.480
the juice turned out to be the place. What I see is that I saw the first place and said, “What is this place?”

0:18:32.480,0:18:37.159
Then I walked a little while and found that the right street is the second place that I want and the third. And so

0:18:37.159,0:18:43.760
I came back and said to Haifa, who is the producer. I told her that this is the place that I

0:18:43.760,0:18:49.640
want for the clip. Of course, she was happy that she was a little disappointed that it was. I am going to choose something because I was

0:18:49.640,0:18:58.200
very careful with the choice, so they came with me, the product designer, and the location manager, and I told

0:18:58.200,0:19:05.080
them here I want to do this scene. Here I am going to do the big one. Here I am going to do the street. I need

0:19:05.080,0:19:09.280
this, I need this type of lighting, I need this type of what is it called clothes? We have to sew

0:19:09.280,0:19:16.679
in this way. I was excited with excitement that I had found what I had lost, so we returned. The most important thing that

0:19:16.679,0:19:22.000
we had in the place was that the stage behind it had been completed, that we had to do the clothes, because I

0:19:22.000,0:19:27.320
mean, I wanted to do work on the era, which was approximately the thirties

0:19:27.320,0:19:34.240
. Or the mandarin dress, and oh, all

0:19:34.240,0:19:38.960
these details. I mean, almost from day to day, I go to Shatha at home, then we sit down and I tell her what

0:19:38.960,0:19:43.440
we have arrived. I sit with her and say what clothes we are going to wear, so I want to get the clothes done here.

0:19:43.440,0:19:49.159
She doesn’t want us to choose them, and I remember that it is the clothes in the first place. This is an important point, I mean, I didn’t

0:19:49.159,0:19:58.679
mention it. Before the clothes, I was presented by a very important designer, an Iraqi designer, Zeina Zaki, and I remember when

0:19:58.679,0:20:06.600
she saw her in the winter, she told me that Zeina was interested in designing the designs for this clip, and I actually went

0:20:06.600,0:20:15.720
to her before I traveled to Beirut, meaning I went to her when her place was in Sharjah here in the Emirates, and I found

0:20:15.720,0:20:22.679
that Zeina’s enthusiasm was the same enthusiasm that I have the one who wants to do the most important love letter

0:20:22.679,0:20:28.840
To Iraq, so I sat down and explained things to her and explained to her the idea: What do I want here and what do I want here, and to be honest,

0:20:28.840,0:20:34.720
I put on very wonderful clothes and very appropriate for the event. The idea

0:20:34.720,0:20:44.280
is that in the clips, I said it in a past episode, the reality is always more improved

0:20:44.280,0:20:51.280
, meaning it has a little more spice, so this was what was important to Luke. She

0:20:51.280,0:20:57.120
knew this thing and carried it in a wonderful way, and she presented the disgusting clothes, so I mentioned that I was unable to go away with the disgusting

0:20:57.120,0:21:03.240
clothes. We got the clothes. I mean, from the decorations, we want to put temptations on them. We choose this scene. This is

0:21:03.240,0:21:10.320
that scene. What type of hair did you sit with, frizzy? I mean, for example, they had a little problem with the scenes

0:21:10.320,0:21:16.120
in which she wears an abaya. Her hair would have been like an abaya, if not, that means we would have kept taking

0:21:16.120,0:21:24.919
and putting things down, and to be honest, it was not a very easy journey, and what a shame because what I had in mind is that I am

0:21:24.919,0:21:33.279
just as meticulous as I was, meaning that I was very careful in choosing the things that pertained to the clip and all

0:21:33.279,0:21:39.360
the rest of the elements of the work. I was the same, artist. Shatha Hassoun, at the time, did not

0:21:39.360,0:21:45.279
see the importance of this issue. I think this is normal, but I did not see

0:21:45.279,0:21:52.720
much importance, so I wanted all the details to be accurate and present. The clothes were

0:21:52.720,0:21:58.600
almost perfect. She walked away, I put a test on her, sewed it for me, and told them how the clothes would be.

0:21:58.600,0:22:05.400
I saw her wearing normal mandarin clothing, as they say in Iraq. Okay. The colors

0:22:05.400,0:22:12.279
we used. We decided on the color pallet as to what colors we would use. I brought the director of photography from

0:22:12.279,0:22:20.159
Turkey, Yuksel Farul, may God have mercy on him. Our photos were taken with a 16mm or 16mm film camera.

0:22:20.159,0:22:27.520
We decided on the look. We wanted the look to be a little closer. Being a tumor means

0:22:27.520,0:22:36.480
warm colours, and I found that the things I lack are those that are not there. We looked for them in Lebanon. I had

0:22:36.480,0:22:45.080
a scene with a sixteen quilt. This quilt means that my entire childhood was covered with quilts. In our house, my grandfather’s house,

0:22:45.080,0:22:51.240
my baby’s house, and my relatives’ house, they are all the same quilt. It is known in Iraq. It comes, meaning its color is white, for example, or...

0:22:51.240,0:22:58.200
Off-white, cream and half, it is sixteen, some is blue, some is pink, some is red, so I

0:22:58.200,0:23:05.400
thought I saw this quilt. I mean, there is no other quilt. The quilt that I am covered with does not make any difference, and there is no hair on it. So

0:23:05.400,0:23:12.120
they brought me things close to Beirut. I told them no, as this meant a problem I had with it. And the Aladdin stove,

0:23:12.120,0:23:18.720
we found it in Lebanon, and the kilt molds, and

0:23:28.720,0:23:35.360
Aladdin in the lead, of course, those who sweated, the greenhouse is the heater, so they had a stove that looked like it, but no,

0:23:35.360,0:23:40.559
it is not an Aladdin stove. The quilt is not the quilt, Abu Al-Sittin, the saddle stitched for me, I don’t know

0:23:40.559,0:23:46.760
how it came out, I don’t know, I didn’t like it, I mean, it’s not real. It's not what I want. The kidney molds

0:23:46.760,0:23:52.520
are a little different. They said to me, "I'm going to walk them now." I told them, "No, it's very difficult to walk them." Because this was the

0:23:52.520,0:24:00.720
original goal of the clip, that I was setting the issue to be 100% accurate. So I meant that I had a problem with the issue,

0:24:00.720,0:24:07.200
so I decided that I had to get them from Iraq. I don't know how, but I don't know how. We have to get them from Iraq, so we were

0:24:07.200,0:24:12.520
sitting, and he was one of the people who, I mean, like

0:24:12.520,0:24:20.000
Vanzat Shada, was going to come from Iraq to Beirut to attend the filming, so I said something and I said

0:24:20.000,0:24:26.360
to her, I want such and such a number and such and such a number and such and such a number, so I

0:24:26.360,0:24:32.279
thought the person who was coming would get excited, I mean even Whoever brought the things that I saw brought some

0:24:32.279,0:24:37.039
more things of his own. I mean, of course, it is not easy for him to answer these topics. I mean, there are topics from

0:24:37.039,0:24:42.159
her. I mean, they had to come outside, like the greenhouse, for example, the quilt. I mean, there is no money to travel by plane,

0:24:42.159,0:24:47.399
so it was a trip from Iraq to Syria to to to Lebanon, not It is not an easy thing

0:24:47.399,0:24:54.720
, but it was very important for me, so things arrived, of course. The Lebanese football team said, “

0:24:54.720,0:24:59.679
What is the difference?” I mean, for them, there is no difference, but I mean, no difference. So, with

0:24:59.679,0:25:06.120
the thread with which the quilt or the greenhouse is sewn, how many holes are opened in it from

0:25:06.120,0:25:13.799
above? No, this is a significant difference, as far as I am concerned. There is no difference. Between the fact that it is real art and fake art, I mean,

0:25:13.799,0:25:19.679
as the Russian philosopher Dostoyevsky says, he says, art is linked to the land from which it originates,

0:25:19.679,0:25:26.840
and the true artist is the one who can express the spirit of his people and culture, so I mean, I was

0:25:26.840,0:25:32.679
all interested in this topic, I mean, I know this episode is a hobby. I repeated this topic, but

0:25:32.679,0:25:40.080
here it is. The detail was the foundation stone with a burning dog, so the things arrived, as

0:25:40.080,0:25:45.360
we said, and they saw the group perfectly. We use here the rest of the things. To be honest, I found them in Beirut.

0:25:45.360,0:25:52.760
I mean, the things were old tools, like radios,

0:25:52.760,0:26:00.600
shaving kits. I mean, other accessories, for example, Chinese lanterns. These things are present almost the same.

0:26:00.600,0:26:06.080
I think in the Arab world, I mean, after a couple of photographic trips. In other countries, they were

0:26:06.080,0:26:12.000
all, I mean, almost present in all Arab countries, but the second thing that I was

0:26:12.000,0:26:17.720
very keen on and insisted on was the point that cannot tolerate discussion

0:26:17.720,0:26:27.240
and cultural differences in the director when he does something that means very important and I think it has a big impact,

0:26:27.240,0:26:32.840
so much so that as a director I work in hobby things. From other cultures and countries,

0:26:32.840,0:26:41.480
I mean, Gulf series, an Emirati film, an Egyptian film, a Saudi film, even in

0:26:41.480,0:26:48.440
the later stages of my artistic life. I mean, I only know the impact of this thing, and I know that I am

0:26:48.440,0:26:56.399
putting in an effort, not doubled, but multiplied dozens of times until I reach what is normal for one of

0:26:56.399,0:27:01.320
those environments. I mean, it is necessary. When I study a negative, I have to know all its details, so I don’t want to burn

0:27:01.320,0:27:07.440
The things that will come next are how I did this study, but with this clip, I mean,

0:27:07.440,0:27:16.640
they came naturally to me. I mean, I remember them. A very important saying by the artist Denzel Washington. Kanan,

0:27:16.640,0:27:24.919
when I met him, directed a film called Fences. The film talks about his environment, which means Africans and blacks in

0:27:24.919,0:27:30.760
America. They asked him, and they said, “What?” The importance of color, and what they mean by black culture in

0:27:30.760,0:27:37.080
America, how did it influence this film? Did the director have to be from this environment? It

0:27:37.080,0:27:44.799
was very nice. Director Steven Spielberg said, “Schiller Zeiss” and director Martin Scorsese said, “

0:27:44.799,0:27:52.440
Jet Feels.” He said, “It is very possible that Steven Spielberg will make Jet.” Phils It is very possible that Martin

0:27:52.440,0:27:59.200
Scorsese will make Schindler's List, and the two of them can make good films, but he certainly will not make the same

0:27:59.200,0:28:05.720
movie as the one with Martin Scorsese with Good Fels, and the one other than him, Stephen Silber, because

0:28:05.720,0:28:12.399
he knows his environment. He said that I and I think the bad ones were black.

0:28:12.399,0:28:18.200
He said to her that you and I know the feeling of the hot comb that we comb with and the smell that

0:28:18.200,0:28:22.960
comes out of him before we go to school in the morning. He said that this smell and this feeling would not be known to

0:28:22.960,0:28:29.640
anyone else from the environment. It is different. He means that the saying is very beautiful. I mean, especially Denzel Washington,

0:28:29.640,0:28:36.080
in a very beautiful way that it really is. These are details, I mean, they are very important, and whoever does not know these details will get

0:28:36.080,0:28:43.080
very tired until they are settled. Things arrived as I said, and the places we chose and settled on them.

0:28:43.080,0:28:50.039
I mean, we built them from our own hands. Most of the places were abandoned in that area, so I mean, we built them

0:28:50.039,0:28:55.960
from scratch. I mean, for example, these major scenes from scratch, completely outside. Its faces are

0:28:55.960,0:29:01.240
completely built by us. I mean, but the greatness of the place is the presence of the rest. We are all of it. And what they call Mr. Yassin. We are from

0:29:01.240,0:29:07.760
us. I mean, the streets, the signs, and the things. I mean, we walked in detail by detail. And I am the one who understands

0:29:07.760,0:29:12.320
this social background and cultures. I mean, I made it easy for myself and I made it easy for the people who are with me

0:29:12.320,0:29:17.440
to understand it. I mean, for example, the scene of the seven siphons. I sat and

0:29:17.440,0:29:22.880
drew the diagram that contained seven siphons with my hands. I crushed the siphons, smashed them, and made them old.

0:29:22.880,0:29:28.600
Like we were playing with the plane. Someone was flying a kite. I made the plane. I mean, there is

0:29:28.600,0:29:33.840
something that I understand and that I feel. For example, the Chinese money, Khader Elias, which they use and leave in the river

0:29:33.840,0:29:39.799
in Iraq. I arranged it correctly. Kanan. I have a picture reference, but I am arranging it with my own hands. I used to dress

0:29:39.799,0:29:46.279
people in the best clothes, and I made people have the right styles or even styles, because they meant extras,

0:29:46.279,0:29:51.519
most of them from Lebanon. Frankly, we had extras from Iraq, but they knew because it was a

0:29:51.519,0:29:58.080
different time period. I mean, I was very interested in this thing, and I wanted to do something real. With the message of love for

0:29:58.080,0:30:03.600
Iraq, I mean, as Gibran Khali Gibran says, art is an expression of love for the homeland, and the beauty of art is

0:30:03.600,0:30:09.600
the beauty of the soul that draws inspiration from the land in which the artist was raised, so I mean, the subject was

0:30:09.600,0:30:16.600
really very important to me, and photography was a beautiful journey full of feelings. Every scene that I made,

0:30:16.600,0:30:23.760
I felt. Every scene that I see in front of me on the monitor brings back memories. It was one of

0:30:23.760,0:30:29.360
the smoothest shoots I have ever seen, despite its complexity, the large production, the large

0:30:29.360,0:30:34.760
needs, and the large number of things present. We had difficulties with the location, since we were filming

0:30:34.760,0:30:39.760
in the inhabited area of ​​Oouridi, so we had to cooperate, and people and people cooperate. As for the viewer

0:30:39.760,0:30:46.480
on the roof, we had to help all the heavy equipment to the rooftops,

0:30:46.480,0:30:52.760
the old places. I mean, it was even dangerous. How could the rooftops bear these weights or

0:30:52.760,0:30:58.480
not? It was difficult, but fun. I mean, I really enjoyed

0:30:58.480,0:31:02.919
everything. I remember, for example, we had a scene that...

0:31:02.919,0:31:10.120
He didn't prepare the cakes before Eid, and she took the trays and went to the oven. Then she became interested in something

0:31:10.120,0:31:16.159
. I mean, he usually doesn't care about the video clips, and what is the cake or the rakour? I mean, if

0:31:16.159,0:31:21.559
you watch the clip, you can go back to the clip. The scene in which she is standing in the refrigerator, Su Dhafira, and their family and neighbors

0:31:21.559,0:31:28.159
are sitting making a cake. Do you see how the rakour is moving? I am committed. How can an ignorant person go

0:31:28.159,0:31:33.440
from door to door and the lover should come at the same time? These things are always in the clips,

0:31:33.440,0:31:38.120
so we can dispense with them. I mean, whoever starts just now, whoever looks at all the clips, will find the rakor. It is not

0:31:38.120,0:31:44.840
always important, but I create a dramatic situation appropriate for the event until I get the feeling I want.

0:31:44.840,0:31:51.200
Usla and Shada herself were very, very well performed

0:31:51.200,0:31:58.760
in acting, and I think she had experience in doing a series, meaning she had experience in acting, so me

0:31:58.760,0:32:04.679
and her, I mean, one thing after another, how do we do things? Her performance was both acting and singing, and of course

0:32:04.679,0:32:12.240
her voice was not the same as the two, meaning it was very distinctive and very similar to the things that are I wanted

0:32:12.240,0:32:20.279
to offer it, and in the end we finished the work with all enjoyment, despite its difficulties, despite all the problems that

0:32:20.279,0:32:26.840
had arisen. We had problems with people from the place and from me, and I solved the problem myself

0:32:26.840,0:32:33.240
and them. I mean, it was a little lost at the time, but not completely. I mean, at that time, even the army and the police

0:32:33.240,0:32:37.880
could not enter the area. Despite all these difficulties,

0:32:37.880,0:32:45.279
the crew who came to Al-Aqsa were not frank and sensitive. I think how do I want

0:32:45.279,0:32:52.559
the topic to appear real and come from someone from the environment I am discussing? They insisted that they

0:32:52.559,0:32:59.080
convey this picture and cooperate with me, and the work was finished and I returned to Dubai and its producer as usual.

0:32:59.080,0:33:04.880
The Monty saw her opinion from Al-Kontar and the producer of the clip, and we were both enjoying the details that I had made,

0:33:04.880,0:33:12.320
and I remember that she came to the office, so I sat down and saw the clip. I mean, the surprise was on

0:33:12.320,0:33:19.279
her face, which is, I mean, wow, she was not expecting that the work would turn out like this. I mean, honestly

0:33:19.279,0:33:27.279
, the works always have this spirit, and this is how love shows in the result. I didn't like it, so the dog

0:33:27.279,0:33:35.840
and the clip came out. I mean, it looked like a bomb. It became, frankly, at the time, even though, frankly, it means that the audio is not

0:33:35.840,0:33:41.600
the type that should be this, but the mix between the audio and the clip made the song become this.

0:33:41.600,0:33:49.799
The song won hobby awards, for example, it won best, meaning it won best director in 2011 from a magazine.

0:33:49.799,0:33:56.960
Al-Sada, Sayidaty and the Lebanese Nadine, the clip is a trick that went viral. I remember the hobby of

0:33:56.960,0:34:03.960
these programmes, meaning Iraqi variety programmes. They started taking scenes to imitate from the clip. I remember that

0:34:03.960,0:34:11.280
there was even a nice attitude from him. I was sitting listening to the match and looking to see what the Champions League money was.

0:34:11.280,0:34:20.800
The commentator said the words of the song, and in the comment, the song was successful, tricks that led to it. The first thing it fulfilled

0:34:20.800,0:34:28.440
what was required of it was that it would be a successful song, of course, and it fulfilled what I wanted from it, that it was actually

0:34:28.440,0:34:36.879
a love letter coming from my heart, filling a simple void that I wanted to do something for Iraq. I should have

0:34:36.879,0:34:43.000
done more, of course, but at least it made me feel like I had done something. The details are

0:34:43.000,0:34:48.679
all that came out. The Iraqis felt it, all the Iraqis loved it, and this is definitely because I really

0:34:48.679,0:34:54.520
paid attention to all these details. It is a burning song among the songs to this day. I receive

0:34:54.520,0:35:03.720
praise and compliments for it, and it constitutes a very important element for me in my career. Here I tried to summarize everything that happened

0:35:03.720,0:35:12.359
with this work that is very close to my heart. I hope it has not been too long. I was light on you and there was no

0:35:12.359,0:35:18.560
sleep in a relationship. I mean, all of the things you said, I don’t think anyone would sleep, so thank

0:35:18.560,0:35:23.200
you and your time. Thank you very much.