Amer ALBARZAWI
Film director
Amer received a grant to help him finance his anime short film L’Homme et le Chaos in partnership with the Atelier des Artistes en Exil.
What is your artistic background ?
I am self-taught, but I did gymnastics, I met dancers who wanted to do something related to gymnastics, so I started working with this group, doing things between dance, acrobatics and gymnastics, and little by little I started dancing more and more and I stopped doing acrobatics. That's how I came to the theatre at the age of 19. As I was doing gymnastics, it was easy for me to do the dance parts and I started to do ballet and contemporary dance, to participate in workshops with dancers from all over the world, and I traveled a lot. At the same time, I was really interested in making films, my brother and I had a small camera and we made films together. The first time I discovered video art in Holland in 2007, I had a shock, because I really liked it. I started making art videos by myself, trying experimental things. These things were not taught in Damascus. I started to do everything with a small camera, and after the ordeal of the war, I started making films, short films.
How do you see your profession today ?
I love my profession, it's hard to make films, but I love it and every day I have new ideas. I want to make films, but sometimes I don't have equipment or anything around me to help me make them, but it's my life and I can't imagine myself not making films or theatre. I'm free and I like it, I don't belong to any company, I don't work with anyone, I like to create my own ideas, I like to be free, but when I make my films I'm stressed because I want to be the best, and show good things to people.
How do you see yourself in 5 years ? In 10 years ?
I will be a great director in France or I will open a café. I don't know, we're new here, we're getting from our past, we have to avoid inactivity, but I can't imagine the future at all. If I manage to be successful at what I do, I will be happy, because France is a good place to make films today.
This interview was conducted in 2017
Photo credit: Antonin Amy-Menichetti