Talk : “I pay a lot of attention to the composition of the image and its aesthetics” – Marwen Trabelsi

Fate has touched Aly Issa’s soul and he has withdrawn into himself. He gave his love and his time to objects and animals, working tirelessly on what will not disappoint him. He preferred to express his pain and the questioning of life on objects of art. This 80-year-old man who, after the loss of his wife and son, turns to artistic creation in the broad sense of the term (painter sculptor, artist), with the conviction of changing the world through his art is total, he is the atypical protagonist of Marwen Trabelsi, The director of Man Turned Museum.

The Cameroonian filmmaker and critic Elise Kameni shared the director’s words with you.

AYILA : How did you come up with the idea of this film? Or why this film?

Marwen Trabelsi : I am a director who works on people from the margins and who are excluded from society either voluntarily or involuntarily, people who stand out and who are socially, politically or artistically different. I am a plastic artist who went to art school and I am very sensitive to the field of plastic arts.

AYILA : How did you come into contact with this protagonist?

M.T. : I met Aly Issa in 2010 at a film festival and we exchanged. I found that we had a lot of affinities in ideas and that we had the same vision on art that can change the world. He invited me to come and discover his museum house, I went there and discovering this fantastic world, When did the project start and how long was the shooting?I knew that I had to make a film about this man and his museum to preserve part of the national plastic memory.

AYILA : When did the project start and how long was the shooting?

M.T. : I did the scouting in 2015 and I started filming in 2016.The shooting lasted 5 years intermittently.

AYILA : With a protagonist like Aly, was it difficult to shoot?

M.T. : No, the protagonist liked to talk a lot about his past glories and I had a narrative that I built as I went along.

AYILA : Did the life of your protagonist influence you?

M.T. : Yes the artistic life of the protagonist influenced me and I took over painting in 2020 and I realized my first personal exhibition in painting in 2021. Moreover, I share some points of his vision about the inner movement of the soul and about constant change.

“J’accorde beaucoup d’attention à la composition de l’image et à son esthétique.”

AYILA : You have brought to light your own aesthetic view of the career of the artist Aly Issa and his artistic work despite the anarchy in which he lived, what is your secret?

M.T. : I am a plastic photographer and I pay a lot of attention to the composition of the image and its aesthetics, the museum was the right place for me to flourish, I took my time and I tried to let the images reveal to me to create the aesthetics of chaos.

AYILA : Did you make the connection with a deep evil being so he could have had as a result of the loss of his wife and son or then you preferred to use his pain rather as an effect on his face and melt it into his art objects?

M.T. : The narrative structure of the film is based on its emotional, family and social past that gives the result of its art, of what it has become in the present. The narrative evolution of the film is dramatic and this is technically translated into a certain aesthetic and a dramatic accompaniment music that accentuates the situation.

 

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AYILA : You are at the same time the cameraman of this film, how did you manage to give an almost unreal graphic aspect to his face and objects?

M.T. : I am the cameraman and editor of the film and I lingered on the aesthetic notion of the images and on the composition of my frame.

AYILA : Are the artistic approach and lighting innocuous?

M.T. : The artistic approach is plastic since I come from the world of plastic arts and the narrative structure is divided into three acts: Love, Family, Art.

AYILA : And this final scene where he makes his will, was it planned? How did you feel after witnessing his last will?

M.T. : I think that the moment of the will is very emotional, I was not able to accompany him in these last moments, but he attended the national premiere of the film at the JCC [Carthage Film Day], in front of 700 spectators.

AYILA : How do you feel about receiving the documentary screen at the Black Screens Festival?

M.T. : I think it’s a great consecration and it’s a real recognition for this very particular film, it’s the 6th prize of the film in 12 international festivals.

interview conducted by Elise KAMENI, film critic