Interviewed by Irina Malkova THE CINEMA INDUSTRY IN EMIRATES IS ONLY BORN, BUT ALREADY NOW AT THIS SKISLESS HAS ITS STARS. MEET: YOUNG, BUT MANY PROMISING DIRECTOR MUSTAFA ABBAS ABOUT THE FELLINI PHENOMENON, ROBERT'S EXTRUSION OF MAKKA AND THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY.
Although Mustafa Abbas is a rather successful entrepreneur and businessman who owns the Legend Group (managing Bang & Olufsen, Chivalry Gentlemen's Salon, real estate and cafes), he claims that he has only one profession - director, which is written on his business card card, which depicts a certain drawn hero, looking like a detective.
Why are you shy? In order to run a successful business, talent and knowledge of human psychology are also needed.
Mustafa: I agree. By the way, this is important for both areas - both cinema and business. It is impossible to make an intellectual film without understanding human psychology. In any story, the characters must change, go through trials, grow and develop. It also happens in life.
What is the current state of the film industry in the UAE? Frankly, I only hear you, your picture of Sunset State and Ali Mostafa, who shot City of Life.
Mustafa: Today in the Emirates there are quite a few talented directors, they say there are about 100 of them, but about 6-7 successful guys come to my mind right now.
And when did you start making films yourself?
Mustafa: I was 12 years old when I started writing stories. By the way, I always shoot what I wrote myself, and I can’t shoot according to other people's scripts. When you are 12, you shoot everything you see - for your pleasure. Little clips. Toward the age of 20, you begin to think more about the story itself, about who will live in it, who will die. Then you get so involved in the process that you can no longer stop. Making a movie about someone is like traveling with him. If you really want to know someone, make a movie with him. It is during the filming that the true character of a person is revealed.
Where did you study?
Mustafa: I graduated from the directing department at Middlesex University Dubai, but I think that there’s no way to think of a better school than a real movie set.
What are you shooting now?
Mustafa: Now I have three projects in my work - one in Dubai, one in London and one in Los Angeles. All three are full-length feature films.
That is, as an Arab director, you do not set as your goal to show life in the Emirates?
Mustafa: My goal is still to show the life of real people, and it does not matter what nationality they are. You know, after all, the Emirates, and in this we differ from other Arabs, profess the principle that the UAE is a country not only for us. So we are taught in childhood, so we are educated, so our leader tells us. Emirates is a home for everyone, without exception. This is the beauty of this state.
Why do you want to shoot in London and Los Angeles?
Mustafa: London is like home to me. We spent there every summer as a child, and I know every street there. I understand this city, I understand its inhabitants, its spirit and culture. And I always wanted to make real English cinema. By the way, both of these projects - both in London and California - are gangster stories, since I generally have an interest in the dark and criminal aspects of life. Sunset State is more likely an exception, an experiment.
Why are you so attracted to gangsters?
Mustafa: You know, I’m a person who believes, change over time. Rather, we become what we really are. Of course, there are exceptions. But in the movie, the rule is that the character must change. This is the law of any working story. Criminal authorities are always extreme, they always go on the edge. This is what attracts me - I wonder what pushes a person to certain actions.
And you yourself fell into such bindings?
Mustafa: No, of course. But we did a lot of investigations.
It is a little surprising that you are exploring this topic in such a prosperous country as the Emirates.
Mustafa: Yes, the Emirates is a safe country. But all the directors who make the bloody films: Martin Scorsese, David Kronerberg, Quentin Tarantino, are the sweetest people in life who will not offend flies, who oppose any kind of violence. And I'm exactly the same.
Do not you think that, living in the Emirates, people often begin to lose contact with real life?
Mustafa: There is not a single person on earth who does not experience difficulties in his life, wherever he lives. But what happens is only 10 percent, and how you react to what happened is 90 percent of who you really are. You are not what is happening to you, but how you react to it.
You are really interested in human behavior. What books have helped you study psychology?
Mustafa: I think observation is more important than reading. Sometimes, when I communicate with people, they think that I had the experience of living in a particular situation, although in reality I am just good at observing.
Indeed, sometimes you can understand everything about a person from the very beginning and feel that your future friend is in front of you. You either feel negative, or feel as if you have known it all your life. But very often we do not listen to these signals, give in to emotions and begin to think that we need this person for something. But intuition will never let you down; you just need to learn to trust it. So listen to your intuition and do not waste in vain dozens of years of your life.
Returning to the movie Sunset State - what made you write a script about people on the verge of suicide? After all, it seems that in the Emirates everyone enjoys life, swimming, sunbathing and having fun.
Mustafa: It was interesting for me to get into the heads of the characters and feel what they feel. As an author, I had to understand this. But, again, this story is not about Dubai or Abu Dhabi, but about specific people. This is a universal story. My task is to make a movie that makes you think. And my audience is thinking people who cannot be circled around a finger. You should never forget that your audience is smarter than you. Pain teaches us more than happiness. Often people say that everything happens for some reason, but this is not one reason - it is hundreds of reasons that led to this event. You grow, you have to learn from some events, pain has to teach you something - so you become stronger.
You exhibited this film at the Cannes Film Festival. How were you received there?
Mustafa: It was very honorable, and the reception was quite warm. By the way, we exhibited Sunset State not only in Cannes, but also in seven other countries, including Russia.
But I was glad that the film was also shown at the Dubai International Film Festival, which is extremely difficult to get into. Many locals liked the film. In the film business there is no place for flattering speeches, here no one will praise you for nothing. People say what they think, and you have to be prepared for a lot of criticism. Therefore, I am grateful for the good reviews, this gave me the motivation to continue.
Do you have a favorite movie work?
Mustafa: My favorite films are The Departed by Martin Scorsese, The Count of Monte Cristo by Kevin Reynolds, The Fight by Michael Mann and Chinatown by Roman Polanski.
Chinatown is just a textbook picture, which is given as an example in each scripting textbook.
Mustafa: For example, in Robert Mackey’s Million Dollar Stories.
That's for sure. Great book!
Mustafa: I often reread it. I can open it on any page and read. Even if you are not a screenwriter or director, this book will certainly be interesting to everyone. About the art of creating “working” stories.
Are you familiar with any Russian films and Russian school?
Mustafa: I only watched Night Watch.
What about Italian neorealism?
Mustafa: When I first saw Fellini's Sweet Life, the film seemed boring to me. But then I realized that there are two types of films: the first is when something constantly happens, the second is films about characters, when something happens in a person’s soul. After that I realized that “Sweet Life” is a psychologically precisely verified film about the hero, his relationship with women, his experiences. This is a surprisingly strong picture, and this is the phenomenon of Fellini.
How do you see the movie business in the Emirates in 10 years?
Mustafa: I think our film business will develop. The cultural level of the Emirates is growing rapidly, but the film industry is still in its infancy. Emirates is a very hospitable country, beautiful, futuristic. So, I think that in 10 years in the film business everything will be fine.
