After the short film ‘after the Sun’ Written and directed by Rayane Mcirdi had its world premiere at the 77th Cannes International Film Festival last May, where it competed in the Directors’ Fortnight competition.
Meanwhile, After the Sun garnered a Special Mention at Cinemed last month. the short film is set in the evocative 1980s and follows a young girl who embarks on her first summer journey without her newlywed sister. Amidst the backdrop of a nostalgic family road trip from France to Algeria, she endeavors to reignite the bonds with her heritage, delving into a homeland rich with cherished memories waiting to be rediscovered.
The film is a joint Algerian-French-Belgian production, starring Sonia Fedi and Balman Abdelmalek, produced by Walid Bakhti, Cherian Leila Bakhti, and Yanis Zakaria Bakhti for MALFAMÉ, and director of photography Simi Bennino.
Rayane Mcirdi is a French film director and visual artist, graduated from the National School of Fine Arts in Paris in 2019, after studying at the School of Fine Arts in Angers. After the film got it’s good shots we interviewed Mcirdi to know more ..
Q: the Sun is a poignant piece of work that speaks of diasporic identity, and finding one’s place while egressing into adulthood; how much of your own lived experience is mirrored by the film? What inspired you to create a profoundly personal piece?
After the Sun (Après le Soleil) is a film very inspired by the story of my mother and my aunts. When I was a child, my family used to tell me of their road trips to Algeria. I’ve made this trip a few times, and I had the impression that there was a story to be built around this moment when everything seemingly stood still. As the child of an immigrant, you have to imagine that— for some families— this was the only time they had the opportunity to go on vacation. This reprieve, which often lasted a mere 3 days, represented a moment of freedom where our spirits were set free. That’s what motivated me to make this film.
Q: What does “Algeria” mean to you?
Algeria is Me; my history and my identity. The country that notably resisted French colonization. I grew up with a respect for Algerian traditions that was passed on to me by my family; whether in terms of religion, cuisine or even customs. It’s funny because I’ve only ever been there twice, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling a strong attachment with the land.
It acts as a beacon for me, one from which I draw upon on a daily basis.
Q: How do you think people of diasporic identities may bridge the gap between their culture and the ones they grew up around?
Our generation is very historically curious, and very concerned that stories untold should circulate as widely as possible.
We’ve been led too far to believe that our generation is in conflict with that of our elders, when in fact it’s perpetually fed by the richness of lives that we’ve tried too long to keep under wraps. I’m thinking in particular of events such as the 1983 “March for Equality”, or the massacre of October 17, 1961, when the French state massacred around a hundred Algerians who had come to demonstrate peacefully. These events were experienced by our parents’ and grandparents’ generation as gravely traumatic, and it’s our duty to tell these stories as accurately as possible, so that they exist in our own words.
Q: What are some ways of reconnecting with one’s roots that inspired you the most, that may even be depicted in the film?
The idea of intergenerational dialogue spoke to me the most. I spent a lot of time interviewing my mother and aunts about the film. And it was really interesting to learn a bit more about their childhoods and to hear just what about these trips moved them the most.
Q: What role does the mother play, in your eyes?
Her role is noteworthy; being solemn and melancholic, her silence yet somehow speaks a thousand words.
For me, the mother’s character represents the complexity of the dual French-Algerian identity. She feels very much at home in this family, yet simultaneously feels the pressure. At one point, she talks about the absence of her older sister, who recently got married, affecting her greatly. The destination of Algeria awakens anxieties within her, some of which may not even relate to her personally.
I should also add that the actress Sonia Faïdi who plays her brought an incredible complexity to the character, which inspired me enormously for this character.
Q: If there was any one message you wish to be told by the film, what would that be?
It may sound naive, but for me the message of the film is that we need to take care of our stories and tell them in the most beautiful way.
Because our stories and our people are magnificent.
Q: Any fun moments you can recount while making the film?
I think the most fun part was probably shooting in a car. You have to imagine that me and the sound engineer were sitting in a tiny trunk and Bellamine Abdelmalek was playing while driving, so we kept getting lost on the road. Despite the difficult conditions, it was definitely cause for laughter.
Q: the majority of the film takes place on the go. What was it like to virtually shoot an archival road trip?
For me, it was a challenge to transpose my Algerian story to a film genre that has a strong American influence. I’m a big fan of road trip films in general, and it was interesting for me to play with these references. I was greatly inspired by Hou Hsiao’s Goodbye South Goodbye, which takes place most of the time either in a car or on a motorcycle.
It was also challenging to think of the film as a closed 8, where the space of the car would represent both freedom and a form of confinement.
Q: Speaking of archival, what was the process of choosing a nostalgic approach like? How do you feel it enhances and generally fits into the narrative of the film?
My parents’ and grandparents’ generation are very nostalgic about their approach to Algeria, so the question of nostalgia was brought up naturally in the film.
I had access to an enormous amount of photographic, video and oral archives from my family. This selection of materials was basically fed into the film. This part was very interesting with the actors, as we based the characters’ roles entirely on the archives I had. For example, Sonia Faidi and Bellamine Abdelmalek called my mother a lot to try and understand the complexity of these characters.
Q: This film was inspired by your own family. Tell us more about that.
My family was an integral part of this project, I’d say they were the authors. Given that the film is inspired by their stories, it was very important for them to be a part of the entire process.
After working together on the writing, they worked with me on the casting. Each actor was discussed collectively with them. There’s also the work on photography, which plays an important role in the film. My grandfather’s use of photography was a treasure trove for documenting his era.
Q: As an autoethnographic piece of work, what was it like conveying something so personal through the medium of a short? What was that process like?
My starting point was wanting this story to be shared with as many people as possible. Cinema is really the perfect medium for this. I have the impression that with cinema I can get all the characters in my film to interact, whether it’s on the family’s part, which would be more on the side of the archives; or the actors, who will be there to construct the story itself.
