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25 August 2012
Official Selection@ the first edition of The Biennale Internationale de Casablanca 2012
19 August 2012
“The Intouchables”: Hymn to platonic friendship!
“The Intouchables”: Hymn to platonic friendship!
Simo Ezoubeiri
Monday, August 13th 2012
“The Intouchables” by co-filmmakers Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano has touched my heart and left me with a warm smile and an umbrella of thoughts. The film has started with a similar scene as in Ramin Bahrani’s “Goodbye Solo”; a full of life African man and a white man driving in a car by night. Before even I jumped into the film to figure out its “point d’attaque’” for the first fifteen minutes, I already sensed I am front of two monument actors and a great cinematography with a lot of precision and craft.
Before watching “The Intouchables,” I stumbled upon a great quote by acclaimed Indian filmmaker, Shekar Kapur, saying, “We are the stories we tell ourselves.” I personally find it a good fit for our current film review. In other words, it’s a deep way to escape from our intellect and let our imagination take the charge. Then, a compiling story will eventually see the light. By saying that, we genuinely illustrate the spirit of “the untouchables” and especially the choice made by the aristocrat (François Cluzet) when he hires a young man from the projects (Omar Sy) to be his caretaker. As a result, the film breaks the stereotypes that most of us has already established or may reconsider to establish in the future by over looking at the power balance between poor and rich people. It’s relative to be rich and handicapped in this context. The film let you think about why people still get hung up on being poor, when it is the absolute normal thing in the world. We have to meditate our preconceived ideas and poor judgment skills! The duo of the film has reached new personal milestones of true meanings of friendship. The moral lesson was meaningful to me at this time; either we suffer or fail to see humanity and goodness.
The movie is based on a true story, makes more seemingly direct tributes. Driss cares about Phillipes’ life just like Solo does for William in “Goodbye Solo”- he even brought attention to his teenager daughter’s ill-manners, and then influenced him to talk to her directly. Philippe’s story can be also illustrated by his quest of friendship and romantic love with a woman. At this point, the film has brought the theme of epistolary letters to life by the way Philippe was communicating with a woman. I felt this part of the film was referring to “Les Laisons Dangereuse” by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos only in the simple method of exchanging love letters between a man and a woman.
The film failed to answer why Driss didn’t care to help his family. Instead, the focus of the film was literally about Driss’s charisma and charm and of course when you have a talented actor like (Omar Sy) or (Souleymane Sy Savane) you are only expecting great performances like in “Goodbye Solo” or “The Intouchables”. Both films are unforgettable and have similar spirits of great writing, natural performances, and gems of filmmaking. Game Over!
The movie is based on a true story, makes more seemingly direct tributes. Driss cares about Phillipes’ life just like Solo does for William in “Goodbye Solo”- he even brought attention to his teenager daughter’s ill-manners, and then influenced him to talk to her directly. Philippe’s story can be also illustrated by his quest of friendship and romantic love with a woman. At this point, the film has brought the theme of epistolary letters to life by the way Philippe was communicating with a woman. I felt this part of the film was referring to “Les Laisons Dangereuse” by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos only in the simple method of exchanging love letters between a man and a woman.
The film failed to answer why Driss didn’t care to help his family. Instead, the focus of the film was literally about Driss’s charisma and charm and of course when you have a talented actor like (Omar Sy) or (Souleymane Sy Savane) you are only expecting great performances like in “Goodbye Solo” or “The Intouchables”. Both films are unforgettable and have similar spirits of great writing, natural performances, and gems of filmmaking. Game Over!
http://www.northafricaunited.com/The-Intouchables-Hymn-to-platonic-friendship_a2078.html
07 May 2012
Gamers’ minds behind new grossing films!
Simo Ezoubeiri
Saturday, May 5th 2012
A month ago, I discovered the mysteries of Panem while watching “ The Hunger Games.” The film has its set up in a futuristic flash-forward style by engaging youngsters in a reality TV show mastered by a repressive fictional government. They randomly selected few children to fight in an annual bloody rendezvous. That said, I still didn’t get the moral lesson behind the flick.
Few weeks ago, “the Cabin in the Wood” pleasantly surprised me. It was pretty damn scary. I lately didn’t bother to see new horror films until the most awaited “ the Dark Shadows” by Tim Burton will hit the silver screens on my birthday’s week, but I think “ the Cabin in the Wood” was getting really good reviews, so I took a chance. It was quiet good- a lot of tense moments to further the plot, and really scary scenes before the denouement. The scenes inside the government lab were similar to a blender machine of making smoothie out of humans and weird creatures. I was crouched so low in my seat; I felt I was next to the floor. I hope there will be a second part because I will be looking to enjoy the pothead character of Franz Kranz (Marty). That said, there are few scenes that are simply borrowed from “ Evil Dead” by Sam Raimi. The film has also adopted Tarantino’s famous formula by paying homage to some influential films from Japan. By saying that, I will never mind to go back and watch the next commercial by Joss whedon and Drew Goddar. However, they need a prudent script-girl to avoid last minute gashing mistake that take away your chances to be considered for an Oscar. Seriously, there was a sequence of Marty when he lights a “white” joint in scene A, and then the joint has turned slightly grey and darker in scene B. there was no ellipse of time to justify the latter. Don’t get me wrong, we still understand cinema as continuity of ideas and logical camera moves and positions.
The story of the film is a true mise-en- abime. It just reminds me of how to write a novella where a “character awakens from a dream and later discovers that he or she is still dreaming.” This might trigger our memories to think of “ Inception” or “ Enter the Void”, but I guess it’s okay to feel privileged as a know-it all moviegoer. Game Over.
The story of the film is a true mise-en- abime. It just reminds me of how to write a novella where a “character awakens from a dream and later discovers that he or she is still dreaming.” This might trigger our memories to think of “ Inception” or “ Enter the Void”, but I guess it’s okay to feel privileged as a know-it all moviegoer. Game Over.
11 February 2012
Interview with Brittany Clemens www.catslikescotch.com
Simo Ezoubeiri, Filmmaker
Posted by: catslikescotch Tags: artist interview, artistry, creative process, cul-de-sac, filmmaker, morocco, simo ezoubeiri, the daily show, vision Posted date: February 9, 2012
“There is no right or wrong way to do a scene-the method is what works for you.” -Shah Rukh Khan.
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That’s an apt quote Moroccan filmmaker Simo Ezoubeiri cited when I sat down with him a few weeks ago to discuss his current project, “Cul-de-Sac”, as well as his creative process. “Cul-de-Sac” is a short film that Simo began over a year ago with close friend, Caleb Thomas. The premise came to the duo while shooting a few scenes one late Chicago night and has continued to reveal itself, though remains entirely unscripted. “I didn’t have a clear idea or a strong plot, but I only had a clear concept and vision of what I was going to make…Today it is snowing,” Simo said looking out the window, “so maybe I’ll shoot some scenes in the snow.” This unconventional method seems to be working for him, as the unfinished film is already drawing the attention of filmmakers and critics alike.
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All of Simo’s films and photographs contain an aura of mystery, weaving a delicate thread that leaves each piece to stand out on its own, whilst simultaneously baring the mark of the artist. This commonality may suggest that he is drawing his inspiration from a singular source, but that’s not so. Giving his thoughts on artistry, Simo said, “I wake up in the morning by believing that anything that comes across my way should have an influence or impact. Sometimes some of these influences turn as new inspiration for a photograph, film or an article. Example: [the vision for] “Cul-de-Sac” was born when I had to write a paper about the photography of the legendary Steve Schapiro for an art class. I watched a program on behind the scenes of “Taxi Driver” on BBC, and I was taken by the gritty look of Schapiro’s exposures. The photographs stayed with me for a while and didn’t leave my imagination for even a fraction of second.” This style of allowing each day to bring a new creative awakening is made apparent in Simo’s earlier films, particularly “The Daily Show”, which contains three segments documenting the commonplace activities in his native Morocco by providing a new perspective on each.
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While his approach may be unorthodox, it is clear that Simo refuses to compromise his artistic vision by acting in haste: “I’ve been always very patient with the process of any project I work on. From my perspective, each development has its own rhythm and beat. Beside a clear vision of what I want to achieve at the end, there was always an implicit out put I looked for. Maybe something authentic, I still don’t know even though I am always interested to find out whether people like a project or not. It is true I have become more conscious that each creativity process is imposing its rhythm and pace on me.”Simo has achieved recognition throughout the world for his distinguishable style and rightfully so, but as we parted ways that afternoon, he left me with the best advice ever given to him, “There was this French lady…she was a teacher at the university and she told us, ‘Remember, that you guys are working with sensitive images and sounds’ … I think it’s a way of living too… That’s the advice I was given, that I have to treat sounds and images with care.”
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To view Simo’s short films as well as keep up to date on his projects, please visit his blog..
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Interview with North Africa United.
Simo Ezoubeiri : The Image in the Service of Art
NAUWednesday February 8, 2012
Simo Ezoubeiri lives and works in the USA , he was born and grew up in Marrakech and has received wide acclaim for his portrail of artistic themes on video particularly his portrayals of the Marrakech he knows and loves. He talks to North Africa United about Marrakech and the future of cinema.
NAU: What is the artistic vision you are expressing in “Inner Marrakech.”
Q: Are digital and 3D the future of cinema?
Q : Does the fusion of styles- artistic and documentary offer more creative opportunities?
The possibility to add a voice over or commentary is accurate. I remember when I watched “My Architect”, a documentary about a “man who searches to know the hidden heart of his father Louis I, Kahn.” in this documentary, the voice over/commentary were well applied to bring Nathanaiel Kahn’s vision into life. Another example I personally consider as brilliant and authentic is Kevin Macdonald’s “Life in a Day.” in this crowd sourced documentary film, we learn about the life of different people from different countries and cultures in a parallel montage on a single day, July 24, 2010. According to Kevin Macdonald, “the movie is a metaphor of the experience of being on the internet… clicking on place to another, in this almost random way… following our own thoughts, narrative and thematic paths.” by saying that, the fusion of a crowd sourced film/documentary has ultimately engaged and gathered audiences world wide to share clips of various slices of life in an interesting manner.
Q: Marrakech is a powerful center for Moroccan contemporary art and international artists, is audiovisual a good way to reflect this?
Q: What is the theme of your film “Flood of Life in Marrakech?”
Q: How do you feel Marrakech has changed over the years?
01 February 2012
26 January 2012
“Don 2”: The Return of the King! by Simo Ezoubeiri
“Don 2” is a flick action thriller following the new adventures of Shah Rukh Khan (Don), and put together out of too many events that don’t fit smoothly together. The film lacks really a good script. However, it is moving like a turtle, but not as efficacious as it could have been. By saying that, the film’s formula has metamorphosed the “slowly-surely” notion in a concrete way.
The film starts with an explanatory voice over and picks sur-le-champ where the previous remake left off. After being incognito, Don is now an international wanted villain in the Asian underworld, and has his great expectations to hit the European monetary market big time.
The movie stars the king of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan, a wicked villain with corny voice, cold persona and sharp mind who was incarcerated by the police (Priyanka Chopra and Om Puri) after surrendering himself to Interpol. He was sent to a Malaysian jail where his face-to-face with his ex-rival Vardhan (Boman Irani) has triggered our memory to the climax scene of 2007 “Don-The Chase Begins.” The scenes of the prison were perfect reminders of Tahar Rahim’s quarrel with some of his inmates in the most acclaimed French film “A Prophet” masterly directed by Jacques Audiard.
Don manages to escape the prison with his buddy Vardhan a la John Dillinger’s style in “Public Enemies”, but with a Ben Affleck’s disguise suite and hat while driving an ambulance in his directorial debut of “The Town.” In return, Don is expecting collaboration from Vardhan to rob the currency plates from Berlin. He also hired a talented hacker (Kunal Kapoor) to monitor his plans, and watch his back from his enemies.
Well, the action therefore plays out in Thailand; Shah Rukh Khan delicately incarnated Don in an acting tour de force, which, with barely any dialogues, relies on the beautifully choreographed stunts and close-ups on his photogenic face. The movie benefits greatly from the stylish cinematography crafted by Jason West. (Rock On)
Tricky enough in concept alone. But it has already been spotted months ago that Shah Rukh “did the stunts himself.” The character of Don is seen like Batman jumping off a sky keeper in Berlin, 300 feet in the air. The latter was a pure Hollywoodien sequence that was set up, filmed, and edited in a déjà-vu style, but yet provided my dizziness with enthusiastic fascination.
In short, Don 2 is a terrific thriller with breathtaking action sequences in beautiful locations (Thailand, Germany, Malaysia...) Therefore, the method of the film was a linear storytelling scheme, with shy flashbacks that introduced new viewers to previous chapters from the first remake of 2007 “Don-The Chase begins.” Some of the characters are randomly added (A-list actor Hritick Rochan) and some of them are not really developed at all such as the case of Lara Dutta’s special appearance. Her role lacks connection into Don’s world, and failed to bring new dimensions to the core message of the film. Most Bollywood films, even the blockbuster ones, fade away like haze once you return to the tangible world; they leave clichéd memories behind, but their reality weaken fairly quickly. Not in this film, this exposed once again India’s finest actor at the peak of his art. No Indian crime film has ever been about one character- not even the joker of “the Dark Knight” By Christopher Nolan, although the tow characters are not really comparable.
We all know that Shah Rukh Khan has emerged as playing negative roles with aplomb of his generation in Baazigar, Darr, Anjaam, and Dewaana. Here, Don is an arrogant chic villain, wild dare-evil, and has a similar walk type similar to Captain Jack Sparrow. Don is stylish on the outside, yet pitiless to set an enemy on fire. To give Don 2 its due, there is an open dénouement, which is probably the adequate one; nothing is settled yet in Don’s life, and Mr. Farhan Akhtar (Director of the film) doesn’t try yet to squeeze an ultimate solution after 145 minutes. There is a lot of interesting materials here, but its unshaped and adequately grappled with. Game Over.
The movie stars the king of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan, a wicked villain with corny voice, cold persona and sharp mind who was incarcerated by the police (Priyanka Chopra and Om Puri) after surrendering himself to Interpol. He was sent to a Malaysian jail where his face-to-face with his ex-rival Vardhan (Boman Irani) has triggered our memory to the climax scene of 2007 “Don-The Chase Begins.” The scenes of the prison were perfect reminders of Tahar Rahim’s quarrel with some of his inmates in the most acclaimed French film “A Prophet” masterly directed by Jacques Audiard.
Don manages to escape the prison with his buddy Vardhan a la John Dillinger’s style in “Public Enemies”, but with a Ben Affleck’s disguise suite and hat while driving an ambulance in his directorial debut of “The Town.” In return, Don is expecting collaboration from Vardhan to rob the currency plates from Berlin. He also hired a talented hacker (Kunal Kapoor) to monitor his plans, and watch his back from his enemies.
Well, the action therefore plays out in Thailand; Shah Rukh Khan delicately incarnated Don in an acting tour de force, which, with barely any dialogues, relies on the beautifully choreographed stunts and close-ups on his photogenic face. The movie benefits greatly from the stylish cinematography crafted by Jason West. (Rock On)
Tricky enough in concept alone. But it has already been spotted months ago that Shah Rukh “did the stunts himself.” The character of Don is seen like Batman jumping off a sky keeper in Berlin, 300 feet in the air. The latter was a pure Hollywoodien sequence that was set up, filmed, and edited in a déjà-vu style, but yet provided my dizziness with enthusiastic fascination.
In short, Don 2 is a terrific thriller with breathtaking action sequences in beautiful locations (Thailand, Germany, Malaysia...) Therefore, the method of the film was a linear storytelling scheme, with shy flashbacks that introduced new viewers to previous chapters from the first remake of 2007 “Don-The Chase begins.” Some of the characters are randomly added (A-list actor Hritick Rochan) and some of them are not really developed at all such as the case of Lara Dutta’s special appearance. Her role lacks connection into Don’s world, and failed to bring new dimensions to the core message of the film. Most Bollywood films, even the blockbuster ones, fade away like haze once you return to the tangible world; they leave clichéd memories behind, but their reality weaken fairly quickly. Not in this film, this exposed once again India’s finest actor at the peak of his art. No Indian crime film has ever been about one character- not even the joker of “the Dark Knight” By Christopher Nolan, although the tow characters are not really comparable.
We all know that Shah Rukh Khan has emerged as playing negative roles with aplomb of his generation in Baazigar, Darr, Anjaam, and Dewaana. Here, Don is an arrogant chic villain, wild dare-evil, and has a similar walk type similar to Captain Jack Sparrow. Don is stylish on the outside, yet pitiless to set an enemy on fire. To give Don 2 its due, there is an open dénouement, which is probably the adequate one; nothing is settled yet in Don’s life, and Mr. Farhan Akhtar (Director of the film) doesn’t try yet to squeeze an ultimate solution after 145 minutes. There is a lot of interesting materials here, but its unshaped and adequately grappled with. Game Over.
29 November 2011
"Inner Marrakech" is part of the 2nd Edition of Digital Marrakech 2011
The 2nd edition of the international festival Digital Marrakech takes place from 9 until 11 December 2011 in Marrakech city, especially in its imperial part which is the old medina.
This annual event of digital and media arts, organized by Arab Media Lab, presents diverse trends and practices in the fields of digital film & video, multimedia performances, video installations, 3D projection mapping, digital cinema, films and documentaries, workshops, interdisciplinary and other components. The meeting is an interdisciplinary festival where artists from all over the world present the latest practices, research, technologies and showcase important achievements in the development of media arts practices. The aim of the festival is to explore the Moroccan events and reveal the richness and diversity of the country's culture through videos, digital films and moving images.
Participating artists:
Morocco:
Swel & Imad Noury, Ahmed Bouaani, Mohamed Ezoubeiri, Michelle Medina, Abdelaziz Taleb, Abdellatif Benfaidoul
Swel & Imad Noury, Ahmed Bouaani, Mohamed Ezoubeiri, Michelle Medina, Abdelaziz Taleb, Abdellatif Benfaidoul
Other countries:
Algeria: Zineb Sedira
Argentina: Sebastian Diaz Morales
Belgium: Jean-Michel Verbeeck
Germany: Robert Seidel, Agricola de Cologne, Sandeep Mehta, Ben Reubold, Dirk Rauscher
Jordan: Ala Younis
Lebanon: Laila Hotait, Mariam Agha
Morocco / Spain: Project FFF
Spain: Oliver Laxe
Switzerland: Jörg Brönnimann
USA: Alex Fischer & Ellis Bahl / Space vs Earth
Argentina: Sebastian Diaz Morales
Belgium: Jean-Michel Verbeeck
Germany: Robert Seidel, Agricola de Cologne, Sandeep Mehta, Ben Reubold, Dirk Rauscher
Jordan: Ala Younis
Lebanon: Laila Hotait, Mariam Agha
Morocco / Spain: Project FFF
Spain: Oliver Laxe
Switzerland: Jörg Brönnimann
USA: Alex Fischer & Ellis Bahl / Space vs Earth
01 September 2011
24 March 2011
17 March 2011
14 January 2011
Prix "Photo de la semaine" par L'association Nationale de Photoshop Professionel aux États Unis.
http://www.photoshopuser.com/members/portfolios/view/gallery/1280659
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| Photoshopuser Magazine ( March 2011) |
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