ABOUT THE DREAM IN (CASABLANCA, 2023)

 

Q &A with the director Adriano Valerio on the film (Casablanca). 2nd March, 2024, Ismailia, Egypt

Adriano Valerio - IMDb 

ABOUT THE DREAM IN (CASABLANCA, 2023):       

A short interview with the Italian director Adriano Valerio during the first premiere of his movie (Casablanca) in Egypt during Ismailia international film Festival, 28thFebruary - 5th March 2024. 

CASABLANCA: A Moroccan exile's efforts to return to Casablanca, after his hopes of building a better future in Europe are dashed.

Director and writer: Adriano Valerio 

Stars: Fouad Miftah and Daniela Brandi

production: Films Grand Huit, Dugong Films, Sayonara Film, Salt for Sugar Films, F Comme Film

"I met Fouad in a bar in Gubbio in 2016, he told me his story and I immediately felt the desire to make a documentary about him. I filmed him and Daniela from 2016 till 2022, between Umbria, Paris and Casablanca, trying to capture the most salient moments of their relationship, but also the depth of their souls, all the nuances of the suffering, humour and poetry that marked their lives. But how does time act on their existences? And how does it act in the cinematic narrative? I've tried to create a narrative and emotional flow that, regardless of time, would be able to reconstruct the exceptional nature of their relationship. Years and months blur together in a creative process that, freeing the story from its chronology, crystallizes its feelings. Casablanca is a story of love and mercy between two people who have built an atypical family, an island sheltered from the ignorance that surrounds them, an intimacy in which each manages, thanks to the other, to free themselves from society's exclusion." [Adriano Valerio]

Q: I noticed something about a (dream) that was repeated mainly at the end of the documentary.

 
A: Yes, the dream was surviving. The main character (Fouad) was so close to dying. He suffered so much. When we speak about (dream), we generally speak about something fantastic. However, for them (Fouad and Daniela), the dream was to survive in a decent situation and a decent way of living by resilience. When we are together, they try to accomplish their dream, by comforting each other by eating something they like or listening to the music they love. Both were so lonely, suffered from medical and social troubles in their life.

Fouad Miftah and Daniela Brandi trying to have happiness
 (from the trailer of Casablanca) 

Q: You met Fouad by chance in a café. In addition, you got the first line of this long journey. How many other refugees or displaced persons are similar in their social situation to Fouad and Daniella even with no social or medical problems?  Would you make a new movie about their dreams?

Fouad Miftah in Casablanca 

A: I come from a county that is well known for many decades as a country of migrants. To be migrants not refugees. Italy is a country with many generations of migrants. My first future film, (Banat – the journey) about Ivo, an agronomist from Brindisi (in Italy) during Perosony Silvio Berlusconi (1936-2023) and with no job opportunities, agrees to move refugees. However, the story of Fouad touched me so much.

Q: Lastly, the ward winning docudrama (Io capitano (lit. 'Me Captain' in Italia) 2023 drama film directed by Matteo Garrone, I hope you get more awards for your movie. All the best.

A: Thank you. 

NB:  
Silvio Berlusconi: politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011.
 

Adriano Valerio teaches Directing at École Louis Lumière, EICAR and Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts. His shorts premiered in Cannes (37°4S, Special Mention 2013), Venice Orizzonti and TIFF and won a David di Donatello (37°4S, 2014) and a Nastro d’Argento (Calcutta 8:40AM, 2023). His first feature film Banat – The Journey, premiered at International Critics’ Week - Venice (2015) and travelled to more than 70 International Festivals, receiving various awards. His documentary Casablanca (2023) premiered at Giornate degli Autori, Venice. He directed two episodes of the TV series Squadra Criminale, broadcasted on Arte and Rai.