I recently met up with Director Yacine Balah, in London, who debuted with his short film Freres Ennemis. I had a fruitful discussion with him. Below is the discussion that we had in which he talks about the history of Algeria with France, the true story behind Freres Ennemis, why he dedicated the short film to his father and his future endeavours as a film maker.
THE LONDON TREE: When was it that you first discovered that you have the potential of making films? DIRECTOR YACINE BALAH: Film making was not something that I discovered, but it was a talent of mine that grew inside of me. I was always interested in making movies since I was fourteen years old. Maybe it was because it was something unique to me, as my brother was 9 years older than me and did not have the same interests. Therefore I immersed myself into writing and reading comics. As time went by, I thought to myself that maybe I can make a short film. Keeping that in my mind I taught myself how to do editing, understood the sense of each shot and the right way of telling a story on screen. It was my passion of learning that took me forward. I’ve learned that film making is not very technical, and to be a director you have to know your own self, your own roots. Most important are the relationships that you develop while making films.
THE LONDON TREE: Your short film Freres Ennemis is your début as a director, how long did it take for you to write it and then bring it out as a short film? DIRECTOR YACINE BALAH: I first started writing Freres Ennemis in 2010. I wrote the first version of the script to my short film at that time. Later i met Jimmy Conchou who is a Screenwrite. He helped me develop and rewrite the script. Then I met Kamel Guemra and Morade Aissoui who are producers. The script looked very interesting to them and showed interest in producing it. A long relationship began after that. With the help of my producers and screenwriter i wrote and rewrote the script. Kamel Guemra is also a screenwriter and helped me in making my mind clear about what direction I should give to the story. Kamel is a very helpful individual and I hope I will collaborate with him again.
Abel Jafri
THE LONDON TREE: You have dedicated this film to your father, is there a special reason behind it? YACINE BALAH: It is a special dedication to my father because it is his own personal experience. Although the event that takes place in Freres Ennemis is not the same as it happened in reality with my father, but I put it in because that makes the story very interesting. I will tell you later the reason why I showed the short film a bit different than the real one. I was with my father while driving and he suddenly started telling me this incident that happened with him. He said that he was being chased by the french army in a forest. Running from them he came across a house in the forest. Thinking that it was an abandoned place he hid himself inside. The house belonged to an old french man, who gave him shelter and protected him from the french army. In the short film, I have shown the old man as an Algerian, who is working for the french army. Such Algerians were called ‘harki’. These men called ‘Harki’ wanted Algeria to remain under French control, therefore they fought against the Algerian rebels. Some of them sided with the French as their heart’s choice, but most of them were illiterate people and did all that for money, and many of them did not know that a war of independence had already started. My maternal grandfather was a ‘Harki’, therefore taking that influence, I placed the character of a ‘Harki’ in my short film.
Francois David Cardonnel
THE LONDON TREE: The film is a glimpse of French and Algerian history, how important do you think it is to know and convey ones own history to others? DIRECTOR YACINE BALAH: It is very important to know your own self, and to realize where you come from. You have to know your own roots. Your roots are what make and build you as a person. This is how you make your own identity and represent your own history.
THE LONDON TREE: How did you manage to get the best performances out of the cast? DIRECTOR YACINE BALAH: It was not difficult to do so because all the actors involved in the short film were really good in their performances. They were also involved with making the short film itself from reading the script for the first time till the end of the shooting. The short film reminded them of something inside them with which they could all relate themselves to. They are all very talented in their work and I even follow their careers now. Let me tell you an incident that happened on set which can tell how involved each and every cast and crew member were in the making of the film. The first shot that we took was of Belkacem, played by Abel Jafri, who is telling his personal story. It had such an effect on us all that we were all crying. Me first because it reminded me of some personal memories. The producers, DOP, the cameraman, costume designer, the assistant were all moved to tears. This made me realize that this sequence is a perfect one.
THE LONDON TREE: which film director do you look upto as a role model and why? DIRECTOR YACINE BALAH: I don’t really have a film director as a role model, but one of my favourites is Alajendro Inarritu. His first film ‘Amoros Perros’ brought a radical change inside me. I first watched it in 2000 when it was released. The movie gave me this understanding that you have to be a good story teller. Alajendro Innaritu uses the camera as his eye which i love very much. I also love the way he uses the long sequence shot. I also like Alfonso Cuaron. His film ‘Children of Men’ is my most favourite since the last ten years. Among others, i like Christopher Nolan, Jean Francois Richet and Martin Scorcese.
Salem Kali
THE LONDON TREE: Do you have any plans of making a full feature film? DIRECTOR YACINE BALAH: I am writing the script for Freres Ennemis feature film. I understand that you have to give it your time and take your time in writing. It might take me along time, maybe ten years to do so, but I will do it. I promise.
THE LONDON TREE: After the success of Freres Ennemis, do you plan to make more short films? DIRECTOR YACINE BALAH: I have another short film project. This one will be completely different. The story takes place in the year 2051, which is in the far future. It is a strong story again. It will involve visual effects. I believe that by learning about visual effects I would make myself a much better director and give me more space to grow into. I yet don’t know if I would be able to do it as I have to be financially strong, but I have this strong urge of letting it all out in order to make another impressive short film.
FRERES ENNEMIS, BRINGS TO LIFE A HISTORY LONG FORGOTTEN
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