MAKING OF Hassiba [Syria]

Directed by Raymond Boutros

Shot in Damascus, Syria,  08/12/2006
Making of directed by Gilbert Cherfane

This story is one of the most prominent ones in the contemporary Arab literature. I was attracted by its topic, and the singularity of the characters that evolve around it. So I wrote a script on this novel for it to become a feature film. I tried to spotlight the social condition of some women, as well as the transformations that occur in their daily lives throughout the core events that shaped Syria between 1927 until 1950. We tried to recreate the environment that matched my own perception of the 1930’s and 1940’s.

This films aims to be a true love tale by Raymond Boutros to Damascus, its citizen in general, and its women in particular, as well as its rocks, its rivers, its vegetation, and its memory, for I consider Damascus a key city in the history of the region.