It was an honor to speak with Tunsian filmmaker Amel Guellaty about her feature film “Where the Wind Comes From.” The film is about two young people in Tunsia, Alyssa and Mehdi who are both creative individuals. They are also best friends. When Mehdi gets a chance at going to art school, Alyssa will do everything in her power to get Medhi there. Speaking with Amel we talked about how this kind of friendship between a man and a woman is not represented onscreen enough. This is not a romcom, it goes much deeper then that. I also had the opportunity to speak with the actors too, Eya Bellagha and Slim Baccar. Both were vibrant onscreen, and you get so excited about their journey. The film premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition.
Amel, I’d love to hear about what inspired the film.
Amel Guellaty (AG): The idea was to write a movie about friendship between a straight woman and a straight man. For me, this kind of relationship was really important in my life. When I was the same age as my characters, I had a friendship with some boys that was on a really deep level. We had a strong emotional connection without ever involving sexuality. I thought this kind of relationship is never represented onscreen.
It feels like in cinema, everybody loves rom-coms. So even though it starts like a friendship, at some point they can get together. Or it’s about a friendship where there are two girls and two boys or one of them is not straight. So it was important for me to create this kind of relationship that is so intense. I wanted to add another layer to the relationship that involved the imagination.
This was what sparked the idea at the beginning. I also wanted to talk about youth in Tunisia. I really respect and love youth, which is all too often forgotten. These young people don’t have many options regarding their future, and there’s a kind of despair within them. So I wanted work on these two topics, which is how I started to create “Where the Wind Comes From.”
And then how did you two, Eya and Slim, get a part of this?
Eya Bellagha (EB): When she was casting, Amel called and told me the story of the film. I loved the character of Alyssa so much. I just fell in love with her and was like, “I’ll be playing this.” At first, I did the casting by myself and then I did the casting with Slim. I had so much fun in this process.
You two are so great on the screen together. Your chemistry as friends is palpable.
AG: The cute story is I met Eya ten years ago when I did my first short. For the main character, I was planning on casting another actress, but she didn’t know how to box. Eya is a Tunisian champion for boxing, and I needed a girl who could box and who was the same size as the other actress. It was Eya’s first time on a set. Then after she decided to become an actress, I [insert rest of answer here].
What about you Slim?
Slim Baccar (SB): I heard about the casting from a friend who is a Palestinian director. He also was the casting director, and I did the casting four times.
Wow!
AG: I’m an annoying director [laughs].
SB: And it was not about acting, it was more to know if I have the strength and the resilience to do this film. It’s a very hard movie. The actors have to carry the film, and it was also very hard to shoot. We were very tired.
AG: I had to do the casting for each role, but also I have to hold a casting session for them together. I had to make sure they had the right chemistry. I knew if I screwed up the casting, I’d screw up the film.
How did you go about portraying Eya’s imagination, such as when she is in the air, or when you see a flower blooming from her hand?
AG: I had the idea of adding another layer onto their friendship that involved the imagination. It was really important for me to link Alyssa’s imagination to Mehdi’s drawings. Every time she’s in an uncomfortable situation, like when we talk about her father or when she feels threatened by those men at the coffee shop, she uses her imagination to escape the reality. Her reference to creativity and her inspiration is her best friend, Mehdi, and his drawings. That was the idea.
Alyssa is such a badass too. Do you share any similar traits with her, Eya?
EB: There are aspects in which where we are similar, but she’s much more impulsive. She didn’t take her responsibilities seriously and she makes decisions so fast. I take my time to make decisions. She’s more impressive, but it’s true that I also live a lot in my imagination as she does.
Was it freeing for you to play a character like that?
EB: No, but I think Amel gave me a gift with this character. It’s so rich. All of her feelings are shown in an external way. Everything is on the outside. It’s all in her face and she can’t hide things.
Slim, you’re kind of the opposite. Everything’s internally felt.
SB: I think that there is a lot of Mehdi in me, Also, Amel helped me to play this character. I was looking and searching outside of myself, but she told me, “Don’t do that. You have Mehdi in you. When I look into your eyes, I see Mehdi. Don’t try to play something else. Play just yourself. Do what you do in real life.” But I’m not that shy in real life. I’m a bit more like Alyssa.
A question I always ask is what do you hope people see in your film?
AG: I hope they see two beautiful, young people who are energetic, creative and have so much humor. They also represent Arab people who are open-minded. This is what I want people to see, especially in the characters. I want them to be reminded of a friendship they’ve had with someone whom you share a lot with and someone you can count on.
Relationships between a boy and a girl can sometimes be complex. Because they are in a relationship, should they be dating? Are they in love? What’s funny about this film is that everybody around them has an opinion. A lot of people say, “Oh, they’re in love, but they don’t know.” Because they both are not in a relationship, people wonder why they are not together. But they are not in love in that way, they are just friends, which is another kind of bond.
It’s so true that this kind of relationship is not represented enough. It reminded me a bit of “Lost in Translation,” though that film was about a relationship between an older man and a younger woman.
AG: Yes, and some people are going to be frustrated with this relationship. Even when people were reading the script, some people said, “Why don’t they kiss?”
I’m glad you didn’t give into that.
EB: I just played the character from the bottom of my heart. That’s what I wanted to do. I miss her, actually.
You should do a sequel! Or make it a television series.
SB: I want people to have more courage to go through the struggle of following their path. I also want them to follow through with the journey of a friendship. Friendship is very important. It’s good to have friends as part of your journey. It’s a beautiful journey. And I hope they see how the Tunisian youth are beautifully creative.
AG: I hope people are uplifted by the energy. And I love that it’s a road trip movie!
SB: My favorite films are about road trips. My whole life I wanted to play in a road trip movie.
One of my favorite scenes is when you get out of the car and look at the ruins. That kind of scene could only be in a road trip movie. Congratulations on this beautiful film, and I can’t wait for people to see it!
