Interview at Mizna's Twin Cities Arab Film Festival

Here's an interview I did for Martha Low and Ismail Ouassaddine while at Mizna's Twin Cities Arab Film Festival.

Mizna's was one of the best experiences I had on the festival circuit. Lana Barkawi, Rami Azzazi, Marya Morstad, and their team played excellent hosts, and I met a lot of very talented filmmakers, including Tania Khalaf and David Hamilton, who have been supportive allies ever since.

I often get asked about festivals in terms of what possible deals you might get out of them. Sell your film, sell your feature, get an agent, etc. But though To Rest in Peace has been very fortunate, the best rewards you get are the people you meet along the way.

One such ally is Lisa Robertson, who I met at the Breckenridge Film Festival with her short film Commerce. Lisa made a big impact on Exitus Roma. She gave notes on an early draft, helped us find our leading lady, Teri Reeves, and gave notes on an early cut that led to a lot of positive changes. The best aspect of the festival circuit is the opportunity to do better work, by seeing other films, and meeting very talented filmmakers.

To Rest in Peace continues its festival run, on its own momentum. I've shifted focus onto Exitus Roma, and other projects on the horizon, but will continue to update the blog until my new, not project-specific blog is up and running.

Goldilocks at the IAWTV Awards

Here's a Mingling Media TV interview with Majek Pictures' Michael Koerbel & Anna Elizabeth James, writer-producer-directors of Goldilocks the mobile series, and me, editor of eight episodes, including episode 5, which was nominated for Best Editing at the IAWTV Awards. We had a grand time!

BFF Best Short Film!

To Rest in Peace won Best Short Film at the Brantford Film Festival! Congrats to the cast & crew.

This was a particularly significant award for us, since it was our Canadian premiere.

Jason Teakle of Brant News interviewed producer Josh Clavir and I for an article about To Rest in Peace, which he called "a story of inner strength."

We had a great time in Brantford. The people were warm, the city was lovely, and the films were good. There is nothing better you can ask for in a film festival. I look forward to returning in future years, whether or not I have a film playing there.

Student Talk

I did an interview for Student Talk magazine, that was published in their June issue. You can browse the magazine's current issue here, and if you would like to read the interview, you can find it here. Topics covered are To Rest in Peace, Kuwaiti filmmaking, period pieces, and future goals.

Front Page of Gulf News

The December 19, 2010 issue of Gulf News featured a front page article by Rania Moussly about To Rest in Peace.

Rania called me for a phone interview, and we had a good chat, but I thought it was for a small article about student filmmakers. A few days went by without print, and I thought they had dropped the story altogether. Then I got a congrats text from my cousin Haider Al-Mosawi, the first of many. It was a wonderful surprise. I had no idea it would end up on the front page!

You can find the article online at Gulf News, and the front page text on Zawya.

Siobhan Live – Radio Interview in English

This is a fun interview we did with Siobhan Live (Dubai Eye 103.8) during the Dubai Film Festival.

The interview was in english, so Josh got to join in. It was a first for both of us being live on radio, but Siobhan was lovely and quickly made it feel like a dinner conversation. The recording is two segments stitched together, before and after the news break.

Still to come, a newspaper article and some pictures from the festival!

Al Arabiya - Live interview in Arabic

The day after we arrived in Dubai, I got a call early in the morning asking if I could do a live interview in half an hour. Of course, the answer is always 'yes'. Which then leads to the question 'what about breakfast?' Fortunately, we managed to get ready and out the door in time and well fed.

The interview was for Al Arabiya's morning show. My arabic was a little rusty, having lived in Toronto, Los Angeles and London since I was eight years old. But the hosts were lovely, and I managed to get through it without much Arabish (Arabic-English hybrids).

We enjoyed a good deal of press during the Dubai Film Festival. They had a dedicated publicist, Sarah Ahmed, who put us in touch with various media outlets for interviews. There's a radio show, and a newspaper article coming soon to the blog.

Many thanks to Sarah, and to Mohammed Al Azzam and Layal Assaf, who made Dubai the perfect premier festival for To Rest in Peace!

World Premier at the Dubai International Film Festival

Hello all!

To Rest in Peace has officially had it's world premier at the 7th annual Dubai International Film Festival. It was a huge success and we were honoured to be a part of this year's festival. Thanks so much to the festival staff who made our experience so memorable! It was also a great pleasure to have Merik Tadros join us, and as a side note, we are really excited by the reception his graphic novel River Jordan has been getting. Lastly, we did some great press while we were there: print interviews, TV appearances and a radio interview, which we'll make available on the blog — so stay tuned for that!

J

Ridley Scott

DGA Quarterly has a great interview with Ridley Scott in their Fall 2010 issue. The bit about his early directing days is particularly interesting. I won't spoil it with a summary here, but look for the advice he got from actor Ian Hendry. "From that moment on, I just changed gears."

Ridley Scott's work was an inspiration for To Rest in Peace from the very beginning. Sean Conaty and I watched Body of Lies and Black Hawk Down. And Leah Curtis and I listened to the score of Black Hawk Down and Gladiator.

Going way back, it was Gladiator that inspired me to study history in undergrad, with the dream of directing historical epics. Which is why it was such an honour to have Mr. Scott as an Industry Mentor on To Rest in Peace. His guidance raised the film to a whole new level.

Enjoy the interview!