Meditation on Disaster

Ali Cherri talks about his new film, “The Disquiet“, which was recently screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.

What was

…your inspiration to make this film?

With the start of the Arab uprising, a question become urgent: How can I as an artist talk about something still taking shape? While there’s an urge to think about what’s happening today, I don’t think we have enough critical distance to do so.

Hence the idea to shift the subject to another type of catastrophe: our violent seismic history and the imminent threat of disaster. While I limit myself to scientific facts, one cannot but read the film as an investigation into regional geopolitics.

…your biggest challenge?

To shift from documentary mode into a more rhetorical discourse. So the film moves from a report-like investigation to an eerie sighting: of dismembered wings on trees in the last scene.

What one scene represents your film?

The last five minutes: this scene holds the idea of investigation, obsession, tension, and confrontation with anxiety. Facing the eruption of the wings, I leave the camera behind and walk deep inside the forest: leaving behind language to venture into the unknown.

For more info – www.acherri.com