Feature Narrative
TOTAL BUDGET
€817,135
CONFIRMED FINANCING
€44,000
Primary Contact
felipe.lage@zeitunfilms.com
info@zeitunfilms.com
+34662046454
Once upon a time in a film, there was a city called Beirut. In that city lived a girl named Viola. She sang songs and killed politicians.
Viola and Farah live in the fictitious city of Beirut. She is a singer and a member of an underground movement that assassinates corrupt politicians of the city. He is the son of a politician, and spends his days roaming the city in his car like a ghost with no destination.
On one of his drives, Farah notices Viola as she boldly defies the authorities then calmly jogs away. From that moment on, Viola constantly haunts Farah’s field of vision, but unintentionally eludes him like a mirage.
While the city is in the middle of a successful operation, plotting and assassinating the corrupt politicians and former warlords, Farah becomes keen on finding Viola. When he locates her at last, he is drawn to her like a moth following the light. And while he believes that her light will save him, Viola uses him; at the end of the day, he is the son of a target in the operation.
With Farah in front of her, Viola faces the enemy in flesh and blood. Her heartbeat races and the focused heroine suddenly loses equilibrium. But that brief and uncalculated time of uncertainty will be renounced, for love is a risk she cannot afford.
In Viola’s world, there is no place for love. Not yet. She has a mission to attain, so that life can be rescued and retrieved. This love must simply be sacrificed.
In the same mood as the two main characters’ inner quest for life, this film moves nonstop. It moves in lines and layers that intersect all the time; the underground layer of the attack on the rotten system traverses with the layer of an unexpected love story.
It is a film with no climax, except in concrete sound when an explosion occurs. A film where the characters have no melodramatic reactions, as they either know what is happening, or are far too distant in their inner worlds.
The fictitious Beirut in the film is not a mere space, it is rather one of the main characters. Its dynamic mood is revealed through the vibrant colors and Mediterranean lights. It gives the idea of a perfect place, while down beyond the surface, it is far from it.
The film is present with a dreamy state; its skin is soft with vivid colors. It is like a fable, like a poem, interrupted by sudden outbreaks of evil. It is a dystopia masked as a utopia.
The story’s visual narrative is poetic and in continuous motion, where the protagonist city and its characters will be filmed through fluid and floating shots. The close-ups are significant in the narrative treatment of the film; through them, the inner characters of the two silent protagonists will be exposed.
Viola’s eyes, mouth, twitching gestures, smiles, and frowns will reveal what no dialogue will be able to expose, while the sadness in Farah's eyes promise to fill the screen.
As a producer, I seek to work on projects that can affect not only the audience, but me personally, as well. Producing a film is an undeniably long and complicated journey, yet it definitely remains a passionate one. It is, in its own right, an act of love.
I first started working with Feyrouz in 2015 on her short film Tshweesh, after which we started developing I Am Here but You Can’t See Me. I trust her vision and I do believe that the world has to hear her unique voice. My fight now is to make this film happen.
Our Viola, the main protagonist, is a strong woman who can no longer stand the suffocating situation that reigns over her city, prompting her to decide to take a radical action. However, Viola’s strength is not only revealed through her valiant character and bold actions. Her real power is exposed when her altruism reigns over and she favors the mission she has undertaken to save her city over her own happiness.
Women, violence, love, and the Arab world have unfortunately been stereotyped and abused topics. There relies the paramount importance of I Am Here but You Can’t See Me: to expose—through Feyrouz Serhal’s unique approach—a new perspective on those topics; one that is sincere, realistic, and unrestrained.
2020: Red Moon Tide
2018: The Wandering Star
2017: Tshweesh
2016: Mimosas
2015: Pozoamargo
2013: The Fifth Gospel of Kaspar Hauser
2013: Coast of Death
2012: Arraianos
2010: You All Are Captains