From June 28 to July 8, 2018, l'institut du monde arabe will be transformed into a meeting point for Arab talents who will portray their cultures through the magic of cinema.

12 years after its latest edition, Le Festival Des Cinémas Arabes is back with richer content. For this summer, the IMA will celebrate the evolution of the Arab cinema industry across the years. Various Arab films have been competing in film competitions at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Awards to name a few. And recently, a new era has commenced after theaters in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have opened their doors to the general public.

Under the support of its president Jack Lang, the IMA has brought back film festivities to its center. And for this year’s edition the honorary president is Palestinian actress and director, Hiam Abbass. The film Capharnaüm, by the Lebanese director Nadine Labaki the winner of the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival 2018, is programmed for the opening night.

As for the categories, the festival will showcase fiction and documentaries both in long feature films and short formats. 80 films will be screened (some for the very first time), from more than 10 Arab countries.

Le Festival Des Cinémas Arabes will include one section for the competing categories, a second as a homage to Jean Chamoun’s L’Ombre de la ville, and to Mahmoud Zemmouri’s De Hollywood à Tamanrasset. And a third section that looks at the emerging cinema in Saudi.

Other activities around the festival include: meetings with professionals from the film industry, scenario-writing workshops, a session for the young public, and several film screenings in theaters across Paris and its suburbs.

To select your favorite film and activity, take a look at the festival’s full schedule here, and book your tickets here.

Known as the Brooke Shields of Kuwait, Rawan Bin Hussain is a 21-year old Kuwaiti law full-time student at the Westminster University. As a part-time blogger, she has a community of over 2.7 million followers.

With her gorgeous looks, inspiring persona, she is a motivated entrepreneur, working hard for all her success. At such a young age, Rawan has already worked with global beauty brands and appeared in the most prestigious magazines.

AM: Please introduce us to Rawan the person and the blogger? How do they differ?
Rawan the person and the blogger, they are practically the same person. I think that’s why people like me, it’s because I am real and whatever Rawan likes in real life, she likes it on social media. What Rawan wears, how she talks, and what she does on Instagram, reflect her actual beliefs.

AM: How did you start off as a blogger?
I was like any ordinary freshmen girl. I was in L.A. So, when I first moved to London, it was honestly a boom for me. When MBC gathered a couple of pictures of me and a couple of articles that I have written on my Instagram page and shared with my followers who were no more than 5000 followers. And all of a sudden, all my pictures started going viral. Gradually I started to get a couple of thousand followers every month. Until I reached 2.7 million in 2 years or so.

AM: How do you balance between tradition and modernity?
I don’t really see myself following the moderation standard of the Gulf. To a lot of people, my outfits are still very conservative and for a lot of them, my clothes seem to be very opposite of what the tradition and religion tells us to wear. So, I wouldn’t want to really say something without knowing who we are addressing this to. Different people have different aspects of moderation and I think, because I live in Europe, my outfits are quite moderate within the European community that I live within.

AM: In your opinion, what is a fashionable woman?
A fashionable woman is a woman who wears everything that she sees suits her the most, and everything that she feels comfortable and beautiful in. Because when a girl feels comfortable, she will feel beautiful and she will look beautiful. Honestly, as a person I don’t follow any fashion trends. I love women who make their own fashion trends. So, every woman has her different style and every woman is fashionable in her own way. To me, being fashionable is being simple yet classy yet sexy.

AM: What are some must have items that every woman needs to have in her closet?
For me three essentials that a woman must have in her wardrobe are a leather jacket, a little black dress, and a comfy pair of sneakers.

AM: What is a message you would like to send out to your loyal followers?
I want to send out a message to all the women in the world that you are beautiful as you are. Don’t try to be a copy of another woman. God created us all differently and that’s why we are beautiful. If you want to copy someone, you will never be someone else and you will never be yourself. So, you are beautiful because you are you, because you are unique, not like any other. And beauty comes in all sizes, all shapes and all colors. So, be confident and cheer up. Don’t let the society that you live in, don’t let them set a certain standard of beauty, that’s not healthy.

AM: An advice you would give to an Arab woman who wants to launch a blog
Be you. Never feel like you are better than anybody else. Always be humble because we are nobody without the people who made us.

AM: What is your proudest moment?
My proudest moment is when I saw my parents very proud of me. They were actually in tears when I graduated as one of the top 20 students at the national level in Kuwait in my senior year. A couple of days later, I got my scholarship to live in the United States and do political science in which I was so drawn to, and then later moved to London for it.

Rawan’s Favorites List:

• Favorite Arab designer: Elie Saab and Amgad Al Adab
• Favorite international brand: Chanel Haute Couture 
• Favorite model: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
• Favorite city: London

Everyday Rawan:

• I can’t leave the house without: my lip balm
• On a typical day you will see me wearing my: sneakers 
• My current perfume is: Sohan by Penhaligon’s and New York Nights by Bond No. 9
• My relationship with the gym can be described as: we are not really friends, but we respect each other! Haha 
• My guilty pleasure is: chocolate
• After a stressful week you will catch me: on my couch. I love spending my whole day on the couch doing nothing, thinking of nothing, eating junk food and watching my favorite shows on Netflix

Join Rawan's community here. 

If you have been to Cannes during the film festival then you have definitely came across an army of shinny black Renault cars with a golden logo and tinted windows, transporting celebrities to the red carpet of the Palais des festivals. It’s in these cars where global stars spend the last moments before they step out in front of hundreds of flashing cameras.

The relationship between the iconic festival and the leading French car brand goes beyond a short-term partnership and has been ongoing since the 1980s.

We sat down with Claude Hugot, the Director of Public Relations of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, to understand the importance of Cannes for the brand universe of Renault, and to learn more about the car’s next chapter.

Interview with Claude Hugot
                           
AM: Tell us more about the significance of the Cannes Film Festival for the Renault brand
Well, this year is a special one because it’s the 35th anniversary of the partnership between Cannes and our brand. The festival is highly important and attracts more than 5,000 journalists from around the world, totaling more than 60,000 hours of television. Keep in mind that Renault is the first thing that arrives on the red carpet facing those hundreds of cameras and photographers, so the return on investment is quite substantial!

In terms of numbers, we have 130 Talisman, the premium sedan car, dedicated to the jury and celebrities. We also have 170 Espace cars (4x4) for the official partners like Kering, L’Oréal, Nestlé and Air France. Therefore, we have more than 300 black cars for the festival that do up to 20,000 total trips in and around Cannes.

But our partnership is not a question of notoriety because Renault is already an established brand. What is more important for us is to have a trendy and fresh image, one that is in line with our Vice-President of Design, Laurens van den Acker, who has redesigned all of the range and made it more sleek and stylish. The image of the new generation of Renault is a premium, glamour, sexy and modern car that is attracting global actors in the fashion, jewelry and beauty industry.

AM: What is an iconic moment for Renault that took place in Cannes?
One interesting anecdote was during a red carpet attended by Leonardo DiCaprio and Steven Spielberg on a very rainy day. To protect the celebrities, our chauffeurs handed them an umbrella with the Renault logo, and which later on appeared in all of the official red carpet photos in the media. This was a very spontaneous and funny marketing stunt.

AM: What can we expect from Renault in the future?
As our car design is evolving, we have selected 30 brand and celebrity ambassadors who drive the car in Paris, including people like Mick Jagger and Lenny Kravitz. Like many, our ambassadors enjoy the car because it’s subtle. Renault now brings together comfort, discreteness and a premium service. The engineers of Mercedes-Benz are helping Renault to further improve its perceived quality. For instance, the new Espace and Talisman are more of a German car in terms of quality as compared to the previous generation.

Also, Renault and Carlos Ghosn are investing a lot in intelligent cars and automatic vehicles. Who knows if in a couple of years we might have celebrities driven to the red carpet by smart cars.

AM: And where is Renault heading to after Cannes?
This year Renault became the sponsor of the infamous Paris Fashion Week, so we will be present during the 6 fashion weeks of the year. In my opinion, cinema and fashion intertwine and this connection allows us to show how Renault has become a statement car.

The Renault experience

It was time for us to have our 5-minute of fame moment as we took a ride in one of the official festival cars to the Palm Beach area of Cannes. We couldn’t but chat with the very professional driver who talked to us about his qualifications and how it is to be in the same car with A-list celebrities.

AM: We have heard so much about your high-end training, can you tell us more about the process?
It consists of 450 hours of training and includes driving competencies, guest relations and specific applications with a touch of luxury know-how. We also have advanced trainings that are related to the type of client we work with, example a security training for the protection of public figures.

AM: Please share with us some of the behind the scenes stories
We’ve had many moments where an actress asked to change her dress urgently and we had to rush back to the hotel in a matter of seconds. I’ve also had a client who asked me to drive her to a grocery store at 2 a.m. in the morning to buy her favorite chocolate bar, and another who wanted to watch the sunrise on the Cannes beach.

As we work with the same celebrity throughout his/her stay in Cannes we build a relationship of trust and respect. You would be surprised how celebrities are timid in the private space of the car in comparison to how they appear on the red carpet.

For everything Renault visit the official website here.

Interview and PR by: Victor Gee
Stylist and Creative Direction by: Suna Moya
Photography by: Nahoko Spiess
Model: Mathilde from F&D Model Agency

It was at the top of the Martinez Hotel, in Cindy Bruna’s suite overlooking Cannes’ infamous Croisette, where we chatted with the beautiful and down-to-earth model.

The evening before, Cindy walked in Naomi Campbell’s Fashion For Relief fundraiser and greeted us wearing eye-catching jewelry pieces from maison de GRISOGONO.

You may know Bruna from the covers of global magazines, the Prada campaign, or maybe spotted her on the catwalk of the annual lingerie fiesta, known as the Victoria Secret’s Fashion Show.

And since we have been keen on following her career since the very beginning, we just had to take her away from her busy schedule and pose some of our must-ask questions.

AM: What does the Cannes Film Festival signify for a supermodel like you?
I am from the South of France, so I grew up dreaming about the Festival and it’s surreal to be actually here. But mostly, I am at Cannes to represent the luxury jewelry house de GRISOGONO for the second year now, and being with them is even a bigger achievement.

AM: Knowing that Cannes is the hub of the cinema industry, is acting something you would consider one day?
Yes, I definitely see myself as an actress in the future. I have done a few acting experiences and one of them was in Luc Besson’s Valérian film. Even though it was a very small role, it took a few days of shooting and I learned so much. It’s an entirely new universe so I will have to think about it and work hard on it. But in the meantime, I want to focus on my career because I feel like I have many projects I still want to do as a model.

AM: An ongoing theme in Cannes is race, ethnicity and cinema. Being a woman of color, do you think this has helped or hindered your career?
Being dark-skinned always makes a model’s career more difficult than being Caucasian. But at the same time, when agents and clients book Cindy Bruna, they choose me because they want me for who I am, that is a woman of color. So it has become my strength in one way or another.

Also being French, and of mixed races (half Italian and half Congolese), is my story of being from both worlds. I am beyond proud of being the first woman of color to appear in international fashion campaigns. And I do hope that many girls could be inspired by me.

Moreover, from my work experience, I have realized that things in the industry are changing and it’s becoming more inclusive.

AM: What is your advice to an aspiring model?
Of course you should believe in yourself, but more importantly, find someone who believes in you. That’s what I discovered with my agency in Paris that supported my career. Because it’s all about teamwork and I can’t do it on my own. You need a person who will help you achieve your goals.

AM: Can you tell us what is your perception about Arab women?  
Oh my god, they are so beautiful! They are so chic. I always have an image of a perfect looking woman wearing fabulous clothes with good makeup. She is a woman who has a strong personality.

AM: And what is your take on Middle Eastern designers?
They are just fantastic, Zuhair Murad, Elie Saab, Georges Hobeika... I love them all! And they know how to make a woman look beautiful and feel like a princess.

AM: Speaking of beauty, we are here surrounded by masterpieces of jewelry. What does the de GRISOGONO brand represent to you? And what makes it so special?
Every piece of jewelry from de GRISOGONO is different from the other. It’s so original, colorful, youthful and fresh. I also have to say the de GRISOGONO team feels like family, it’s literally like home with them. There’s a kind of positive energy associated with the jewelry house.

AM: If we ask you to resume your career in one professional moment, what would it be?
I have done so much, and at the same time I have so much more to do. But I have to choose the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show because it’s something magical. I mean walking the VS runway for five years is huge. I couldn’t even believe it since the very beginning, this show is a dream come true.

AM: Finally, please tell us more about your upcoming projects
I have so many exciting things and editorials, but I can’t talk about them right now (she laughs). I just joined an association of charities in France, Solidarité Femmes, which fights against violence on women to protect them from all forms of abuses. We will work on very important projects together, something that I am very eager to do.

Follow Cindy Bruna's daily life here.

Interview and PR by: Victor Gee
Stylist and Creative Direction by: Mickael Carpin
Editing by: Suna Moya
Photography by: Nahoko Spiess
Model: Cindy Bruna

Traveling to a new, or even a familiar and beloved destination, is always a cause for joy. The only less joyful element is the process of packing, especially when you’re travelling to a different country, or even a continent. There are style rules to follow, which are different in every culture, and there are also weather conditions to take into consideration, as for instance Paris weather vastly differs from that in Abu Dhabi or Dubai. Therefore, whether your plane ticket to one of Europe’s capitals is already booked or you’re still torn between different ones, there are certain essential packing rules you should know. You want to achieve both stylishness and comfort, and these tips will certainly get you there.

Start with great footwear 
As a tourist, even if you plan on renting a car, there are places that you will want to see on foot, which is why packing comfortable and chic footwear is paramount. In Europe, the athleisure trend is still highly popular, so even if you’re not a fan of sneakers, bring a pair. Tennis shoes such as Adidas Stan Smith are incredibly comfortable and versatile, and thanks to athleisure you can even wear them with sundresses, chic trousers and pleated skirts. A pair of flat open-toe sandals is also a must – not only are they stylish, but they also allow the feet to breathe, which can be a life-saver during hot days. Finally, you want to bring along something in a heel as well – block heel mules, as well as white slingbacks, are having a moment so they will make for a great evening choice.

A splash of color 
Prime colors and pastels have dominated the runways and now they’re everywhere, so don’t be afraid of packing a multitude of hues. However, make sure that your pieces – whether they’re skirts, culottes, regular tees, or breathable blouses - work well together so you don’t end up with incomplete outfits. It would be best if you created the outfits before you pack, and when you’re there, you can simply put them on without pondering too much. In addition to bold hues, patterns such as paisley and florals are some of the most popular ones, but in the spirit of not taking risks, choose a kaftan in those patterns, just to avoid any clashing.

Embrace athleisure
This trend is booming in Europe, and if you want to blend in, you will definitely need a pair of chic, yet comfortable side-striped trousers and basic shirts, as well as the aforementioned sneakers. We’re looking at a very sporty and nonchalant summer, so in order to not look like a tourist, embrace your casual side.

Matters of practicality
Pack fewer items than you initially thought you’d need. If you’ve already selected items that mesh well together in the sense that you can create multiple outfits using the same items, you don’t need a complete outfit for each day as you’ll be able to mix and match. Plus, many hotels offer laundry service, so even if you’re planning on a longer stay, you will be able to reuse your clothes.

Classy evenings
When you go to a new place, you will most certainly want to experience the night life, or at least go out to dinner in an upscale restaurant. Perhaps you’ll want to see a play or attend a concert, which definitely calls for chic and polished. There are tons of choices of gorgeous cocktail dresses that you can pick and choose from, as you can never go wrong with an elegant cocktail dress, no matter which evening event you’re attending. Micro bags are one of the hottest trends of the summer season, and this is your perfect opportunity to flaunt one.

The safety net
Now, aside from summer staples, you should definitely pack a jacket or blazer in a neutral hue – you never know when the weather will decide to play with you, so make sure you stay warm, and just to be on the safe side, a camel trench coat is a definite recommendation.

Love your skin
The planes, the change of climate, it all takes a toll on the skin, so don’t think of experimenting with skincare products. Bring your own skincare arsenal; the one that you know works for you. Only if you’re absolutely certain that these exact products will be available in stores at your destination, you can leave without them.

Finally, leave some room in your suitcase as you are bound to be tempted to make additional purchases –it’s inevitable. Therefore, in order to be able to close your suitcase when the time comes to go back home, leave at least thirty percent of it available.

Article by Peter, a lifestyle and travel writer at Men-Ual and Ivania's Mode magazine, living between the UK and Australia.

We met Nadine a day before she won the jury prize for her film Capharnaum, which was the first Lebanese film to be part of the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival since 1991.

Capharnaum follows the story of 12 year-old Zain who is seeking to sue his parents for giving him life. Besides his poverty, lack of parental love and obligation to work since a very young age, Zain faces the problem of being illegal. A common factor he shares with the heroin, an Ethiopian immigrant Rahil, whom he meets once he decides to flee his home.

Labaki, is not a newcomer to the iconic festival since both of her films Caramel (2007) and Where Do We Go Now (2011) were selected in the Quinzaine des réalisateurs and Un Certain Regard categories respectively.

We tried to steal a couple of questions from the actress/director between a dozen of international and Arab media queuing for a chance to talk with her.

AM: Nadine, can you tell us how important is the Cannes Film Festival for you?
I first came to Cannes as a cinéphile, and it was not as easy to access all the films when you are not part of the industry. This festival has always made me dream big, and I would have never believed that my films would be part of it one day. It is still surreal.

AM: The theme of Capharnaum is about children’s injustice and immigration. Tell us more about it
I am quite scared because Cannes could get judgmental, but I do have confidence in this topic. I have spent the past 4 years of my life doing research to approach the truth. I went to all the centers and prisons of minors and the tribunes to understand how the system works, and why can’t we find a solution for these children.

It’s not just about immigrant children or about the economic and cultural background of these individuals but rather a global debate. Children are always seeking love but many haven’t received any. You have to know that the first 6 years of a child’s life are the most important for his/her psychological development, and there is a massive difference between children who have been loved and those who haven’t. These kids end up unhappy to be alive and even wonder why they were born.

AM: You are also a producer of the film, how was the process like?
We started with no producers and had to learn about the métier from A to Z so we could attract the right investors. It was an organic process, created by a team or a family of passionate members. I am blessed to have a loving entourage and without them this project could have never seen the light. 

AM: You always like to cast non-professional (amateur) actors, why is that?
I believe that cinema is the strongest tool to change social and political problems and to shed the light on hot issues. I tried to adapt to the lives of my amateur actors and it took us 6 months of filming. Unlike my previous films, I had to remove myself from the majority of the scenes and I chose a minor and symbolic role. I knew too much and I didn’t want to be misleading. I wanted the actors to feel free to play the real roles of their daily lives.

While cinema has always been intended to communicate a message or a global idea, Iranian cinema takes this noble mission to another level. Not only because it tells genuine and authentic stories, but because of the governmental restrictions that make movies bloom under all forms of pressures.

3 Faces (Se Rokh) is directed by renowned Iranian director Jafar Panahi, and was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival 2018. It won the award for Best Screenplay.

Through three generations of actresses, 3 Faces points out how actresses have been regarded with a certain disrespect, perceived as “easy” women, both before and after the Islamic Revolution. One of the goals of the director Jafar Panahi, is to emphasize how much they were, and still are true artists.

The film not only discusses old social and cultural dilemmas but most recent ones, including the use of social networks. For 3 Faces starts with a young wannabe actress who contacts a famous star through a video as she films herself (falsely) committing suicide.

Panahi, who is officially forbidden in his own country, and was not allowed to attend his movie premiere, receives many messages from young Iranian people who want to work in the industry. A newspaper article about a young girl who had committed suicide because she had been banned from making movies inspired the story of 3 Faces

For us, it was quite refreshing to find the full list of credits at the end of the film. Knowing that in his previous film, Taxi Tehran none of the names of the collaborators appeared out of fear. Another interesting political phenomenon had occurred just before Cannes, when Iranian film professionals mobilized in favor of Jafar Panahi and wrote to the Iranian president asking him to allow Panahi to travel to Cannes. Will Iranian cinema be legalized? Only time will tell.

Girls Of The Sun (original title: Les Filles Du Soleil), was one of our top favorite films this year in Cannes. And whether it was intended to be a feminist movie or not, it carried a message about women empowerment in a non-traditional context or story. A film within a turbulent year witnessed in history of global initiatives launched like the #metoo campaign.

The film, part of the official selection of the competition in the Cannes Film Festival, is directed by Eva Husson and stars Golshifteh Farahani and Emmanuelle Bercot.

Girls Of The Sun talks about a group of women soldiers who will defy all odds to liberate their hometown from ISIS. Through the eyes of a French journalist, Mathilde (Emmanuelle Bercot) risks her life for a good story and follows Bahar (Golshifteh Farahani) in Kurdistan who is leading a troop of emotionally wounded females seeking freedom of land.

Women, Life, Liberty are the recurrent themes, and Golshifteh Farahani delivers an exceptional performance of a heroin, a fighter and a role model.

The film is inspired by real events of the invasion of ISIS on the Yazidis, a minority group, in Iraq back in 2014. And while some have fled the land, other were massacred, young girls were forced into sex slavery and boys into indoctrination to join the extremist group. With no international aid, the women who have lost their families and loved ones, decide to take things in their own hands. The women learned to operate guns as they realized that they were the only hope for freeing their land from ISIS soldiers. The latter who believe that if they die at the hand of a woman they won’t go to heaven.

Eva Husson discussed the inspiration behind her film: “As the granddaughter of a Spanish Republican soldier, I’ve been very interested in the notion of lost ideals.” In 2006, she began working on a project about the concentration camps in France where Spanish refugees were kept in the wake of the civil war since her grandfather had been in one of those camps. And when she heard about these Kurdish women, it resonated with her family history. "And of course there was something else, something even more powerful: the story of these women fighters, captured by extremists, who had escaped horrible situations, and in the end committed themselves to fight back against their abductors,” she added.

For the preparation and research, Husson tried to meet with as many of the Kurdish factions as possible. She went to the front and visited the refugee camps to speak with women who had escaped, the women who had committed themselves to the fight, and listened to their testimony

And when asked if it’s a “women’s film,” Eva stated that she believes this term expresses a masculine bias. She explained “I think my generation needs to speak about it differently… On the other hand, what interests me is that it raises a question about the meaning of this formulation; it proves that there aren’t enough representations of women by women in cinema… The history of cinema is 95% composed of a masculine perspective on the world. If we use this expression, it’s also because we’re still lacking enough women’s perspectives in cinema to extract this universality. So let’s get to work!”

Yomeddine is one of the two Arab films in the Official Selection in competition at the Cannes Film Festival 2018. A very genuine and authentic work of art as described by many of the spectators we have interviewed.

The film revolves around Beshay, a man cured of leprosy and who has never left the leper colony in the Egyptian desert where he lived since childhood. After the death of his wife, he decides to go in search of his roots. On a donkey and his humble possessions, he launches on a journey of discovery before being joined by Obama, a Nubian orphan. They both cross Egypt as they start confronting the world and its sorrows, hardships and moments of grace, in a quest for a family, a place to belong and humanity.

The title Yomeddine comes from the Arabic word meaning the “Day of Judgment,” a religious connotation of a day that follows the death of an individual and where everyone will be regarded as equal and judged according to their deeds, rather than their looks. An event that is especially precious for people who feel they are looked down upon in society. And through his film Yomeddine, director A.B. Shawky wanted to tell the story of the underdog, the outsider, who is unaccepted by the world around him.

Can you tell us about your journey before the film?
I’m 32, my father is Egyptian and my mother is Austrian. She’s a film buff and helped me discover cinema. When I was younger she used to take me to see lots of films, and particularly independent ones. I studied film in Egypt, and later was accepted into N.Y.U. Tisch School of the Arts in New York to continue my studies. And that’s where I started to write this film.

Where did the idea of Yomeddine come from?
The idea of Yomeddine came when I was filming a short documentary that chronicles the stories of the residents of the Abu Zaabal Leper Colony north of Cairo. I came to realize that leprosy is more of a social issue than a medical one, and that it had pushed the residents into seclusion from the rest of the world.

How was the filming process like?
I wrote the screenplay between 2013 and 2014 and then went back to Egypt to try to find the financing. It wasn’t easy: I was a beginner trying to make a film with a potentially disturbing subject and with no known actor. We found a few partners and put in a fair amount of our own money. Finally we started shooting in September 2015 and finished in 2016. We had no money left for post-production. People we approached told us: “Finish the film, then we’ll decide if we want to invest.”

In 2017, I was able to get some more money together and to continue working on the project. My wife and I made this film together; she produced it, I directed it. We are unknown in the Egyptian film world and everyone was very surprised when we were selected for Cannes!

Tell us more about the exceptional Beshay, the film’s main character?
The choice to have Beshay be played by a non-actor leper came with the intention to give both the character and the man the chance to be defined by his humanity, not his disease. The theme is to not to look away from the outcasts we encounter in the in the film, but to see past their appearances and focus on their character. Despite the seemingly heavy content, Yomeddine is treated in a light-hearted manner, highlighting Beshay’s spirit in the face of misery.

I can’t possibly find any other word to describe her. She simply was timeless; her songs, her voice, her fashion style and look were ageless. Even her face and body didn't age throughout the years of her career. She once said "A person must adapt to the current environment to succeed in the time in which he/she lives." And that is exactly what she did and which kept her trendy for 31 years, until her death. But her fame didn't stop after her passing. People continued to listen to her music; she appeared daily on TV, radio and magazines, as if she was still in this world. Someone would wonder wasn't she old-fashioned in the 90s and for the 21st century? No! The reason why people still loved her was her "timelessness.” Her appearance was simply for all times. In some way she found the elixir against aging, a thing that people always seek to find.

The story of Dalida can't be told in just a few words. The complex history of her career and private life can be discussed for weeks. I was lucky to discover her during my early teen years when I appreciated memorable melodies. One winter I accidentally ran into her songs on radio. This introduction could not have been more idyllic. It later turned out that I came across her 1967 era, the trendiest part of her career, a period right after her fiancée’s suicide, her suicide attempt, and when she had lost her unborn child. People would say that she only suffered in her life, but Dalida also had beautiful and amazing moments.

Real named Iolanda was a girl of an unseen beauty. Her initial wish to become an actress and model led her to become Miss Egypt and to relocate to France. Young Italian girl couldn’t manage her private life, so she spent most of her efforts on discovering her self through singing. She succeeded to sign a contract in 1956, and several months after she became an overnight star with a new name, Dalida. While Dalida worked 24/7 on her professional future, the 31-year Iolanda was slowly dying inside. As a woman from a family with strong Christian faith, she wanted to simply be a mother, a hardworking housewife with a husband and children. Sadly, her biggest life wish never came true. Her first and only marriage in 1961 failed. Her longest 9-year relationship broke down in 1981. Both three of the men in her life committed suicide. She might have had several other minor relationships, but only for the purpose of finding true love. Dalida always said "The most important thing is love."

Just like other people, Dalida spent life trying to achieve her main goal. In her case it was love, and she didn't succeed in finding it. That was the only reason behind her decision to end her life in 1987. Although her private life was marked with bad memories, Dalida also had a huge amount of beautiful moments with her friends and partners, with whom she spent good times. Parties, travelling and movie filming, TV appearances, etc. they all left her with unique souvenirs. Her career was a pure success. From 1956 to 1987 she would deliver a dozen of songs annually, at least one would became the hit of the year. We all know a couple of her undaunted hits: Gigi l'amoroso, Paroles paroles, Il venait d'avoir 18 ans, Laissez-moi danser, Bambino... Her songs were succeeded with global concerts and appearances wearing iconic wardrobes still carved in the memories of her fans. Dalida had an audience in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. She is the biggest singer in the Francophone world.

Through her songs Dalida also reflected her own melancholy. The fascinating thing about her is that despite the sad lyrics, she was not a weak woman. She sang joyful songs. Her repertoire adapted to changes in her life. Those changes shaped Dalida, the woman who created styles and at the same time adapted to them. “Life, has become unbearable to me. Forgive me,” she wrote at the end. But the grief and passion of the songs have survived. Her art can help us endure our own pain, or enjoy life for a few hours while we dance on the beautiful melodies of her mythical hits.

Article by Dujo Bulic owner of Dalida Ideal Instagram Page - Illustration by Madhav Sankar R Warrier