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First, the Recap:
Waking moments and the reality of where and who we are. How do we capture the essence of the world around us, and how do we have absolute certainty that what we’ve accepted as tangible and concrete is actually that at all? For Salma (Yassmin Naguib), the very thought of interpreting what she sees, hears, and experiences in her scope of awareness seems strangely vague, hazy, filled with lingering doubt of whether she is perhaps dreaming instead of consciously present. Even as she tries to go about routine, whether caring for the man sharing her home, the girl-child swinging on the home’s doorway, or simply taking in the beauty of all surrounding her, it still becomes a restless journey of wondering about the state of being she truly resides in. Will peace be found, or will it all fade into an ever unfolding cascade of reveries unanswered?
Next, my Mind:
There is no hesitation on the part of this critic to state that this 17-minute short film effort from Egyptian writer/director Bishara Shoukry, produced by the Egyptian National Film Center, fits beautifully into the genre mold and overall concept (“Below The Surface”) of the 2nd Annual 2019 Berlin Illambra Experimental Film Festival held at the Salon AM Moritzplatz December 13th-14th and hosted by Illambra. An unabashedly surreal adventure into the mind and existence of one young woman and the quirky world she finds herself experiencing, the film’s evolving thematic twists and turns engulf the viewer, thrusting us into the fluctuating situations she’s immersed in that call into question reality vs. fantasy, imagination, memory, present vs. past, and even potentially the lines between life and death itself as seen through her eyes and perception.
Yet, what makes it an even more existential exploration is the fact that every facet she involves herself in, whether with the man who shares her life, the child she consistently sees that may be real or phantom, and the repeated imagery of a tree whose leaves seem ready to fall all point to how they all somehow influence each other, yet remain apart as well. I know, that really might be stretching it or playing at my own personal interpretations of what this film delivers, but in whatever way you might ascertain what you witness, it all for me represents the cycles of life, encompassing elements that we notice or take part in blatantly and others aspects we choose to totally ignore or don’t seek to understand, kind of like the film’s title might suggest in a leaf. It’s a single object no one really pays attention to, even as we’ve all seen thousands fall in our lifetimes. Maybe this is the film’s grander, underlying message being offered here–that which we dismiss could hold greater importance than we realize.
The film’s visual approach could invite both wonder and confusion when attempting to grasp the ideas the narrative is trying to make evident, but the sheer starkness of the black and white cinematography somehow adds weight to everything, making it stand out in one’s mind. It is purposeful intent how the camera follows Salma in her apparent sojourn, all while embracing the other characters and components in play, making them just as enigmatic as the narrative itself yet maintaining that “yeah, I see it now” effect as well for the viewer. Naguib lends a quietly powerful performance to the proceedings in her role as Salma, a beautiful, astute, and fully self-aware woman who finds herself diving deep into the power of privately preserved recollections that send her on a fanciful and unsettling path which may suddenly reveal an equally unnerving truth about her own actuality. Naguib navigates this myriad of encounters with both body and facial expressions that evoke the character’s plight with a raw vulnerability yet internally blazing passion.
There are additional supporting turns by an actor playing “the man” and a child actress playing “the young girl”, but the film’s credits did not allow me to be able to read their names, but please know they are fully acknowledged for the parts they played here. So, in total, “A Leaf” is a lesson in memory and the potent journey it can take us on but also, for this critic, in human awareness (or perhaps ignorance) that dictates we often notice the things we consider important and ignore the mundane when it could be that the mundane (say, for example, a falling leaf) IS what gives life and our perception of it its importance from the start. Philosophical and/or “out there” right? Well, this IS indie cinema after all.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
