"ANTISOCIAL" ー a short film.
On Wednesday, 10th of April, a series of videos were released by Amr Mansour on his Instagram account that formed his short film ANTISOCIAL.
The film follows a guy, Mohammed Mounir, from the moment he wakes up and follows him throughout his day as the film progresses and portrays to us what it feels like to be antisocial and how they view the world and society around them; how it feels as though you're part of something called life yet you stand out in your community. With the addition of some gratifying montages, we reach a cliffhanger at the end.
After watching the full film, I contacted Amr in an attempt to get an interview with him and he came through, so here's all you need to know about the film and experience from the director and producer himself!
ー
Q: Who are you and what inspired you to make ANTISOCIAL?
A:
انا عمرو منصور، شغفي وحبي للتصوير هو المحرك الاساسي في حياتي و بيمدني بالطاقة الي بقدر اكمل بيها. اما بالنسبة للبروجكت "antisocial" فهو من فترة طويلة جدا وانا بسعى اني انفذه ولكن، مع قلة الإمكانيات و ضيق الوقت، الفكرة اتأخر تنفيذها لحد مالوقت سمح، وبأقل اللإمكانيات نفذت البروجكت الحمد لله. اما بالنسبة للفكرة جاتلي منين، انا مبحسبهاش فكرة اد ما هي تجسيد لواقع حقيقي بيمر بيه كل واحد فينا ولو مرة واحده فحياته، في منا الي بيقدر يخرج من الدايرة وفي الي بيفضل فيها وبيكون الموضوع مزمن.
t/n: I'm Amr Mansour, my passion and love for photography are what drives me through life and give me the energy to be able to go through it. As for "antisocial," it has been a long while since I have been aiming to produce it but, with the scarce resources and shortage of time, the production of the idea was postponed to when the time allowed, and with the most minimum of resources, I was a finally able to actually produce the project. As for the source of my idea, I don't consider it an idea as much as it is a portrait of a reality that every one of us goes through at least once in their life; some of us have the ability to get out of this loop while others stay inside it for a lifetime.
ー
Q: How many persons were in your team and how was it like working with them?
A:
احنا كنا اتنين بس، انا ومنير، لكن كان صحابنا القريبين بيسعدونا فتوفير اللوكشين و التشجيع و في تبادل الاراء وكدا.
t/n: We were mainly two, Mounir and I, however, our close friends were of great help when it came to location options, cheering us on and giving us ideas.
ー
Q: How long did the project take and which scene was the most difficult one to film?
A:
بالنسبة للوقت الي استهلكناه في تنفيذ البروجكت فكان ٤ شهور، هو دا يعتبر اول بروجكت ليا، فبالنسبة لاصعب شوت، هو كان كل شوت بالنسبة ليا صعب لخوفي الشديد من ان الفكرة الي بتتصور متوصلش للمتلقي بشكل مفهوم.
t/n: It took us 4 months to produce this project. This is considered to be my first project ever and so, as for the most difficult scene to shoot, every scene was equally difficult to shoot in my point of view due to my constant fear of my perspective not reaching the viewer in a comprehended matter.
ー
Q: What was your feeling towards the final product after you were done with the film?
A:
شعوري بعد مخلصت الفيلم وبتفرج علية كامل لاول مرة، اللحظات الاولى ادتنى ايحاء من ان ممكن يكون ليا مستقبل في الي بدأت فيه، وبعدها ابتسمت ابتسامه رضا عن التعب البذلته فيه.
t/n: My feelings towards the film after I was done with it and watching it for the first time; the first bits of moments gave me the feeling that I can have a future in such works and I smiled due to my feeling of content towards all of the efforts I did.
ー
Q: How did the audience and viewers react and how did that make you feel?
A:
تفاعل الناس مع البروجكت كان مليان تقدير وحب حقيقي، فوقت الناس بقت منافقة بشكل كبير، ودا الي لاحظته من ردود الناس "من غير مجاملة،" "انا مش بطبل،" وهكذا، وبعدها بيستكملوا رائيهم بمنتهى الشفافية، و دا الي دخل جوايا شعور كبير بالفرحه.
t/n: The people's reaction to the film was filled with appreciation and true love, in a time where most people are tyrants, and that's what I noticed from their responses such as "I'm not trying to be flattering," "I'm not exaggerating," and so on, then they would continue with stating their opinions with transparency, and that gave me a wholesome feeling of joy.
ー
Q: Finally, is there anything else you'd like to add or any upcoming projects you'd like to mention?
A:
اخر حاجه احب اقولها هو ان انا شغال على افكار كتير واقفه على التنفيذ في اقرب وقت انشاء الله.
t/n: The last thing I would like to say is that I'm working on a lot of ideas that I'm only one step away from producing and I plan on doing so as soon as possible.
ー
In the end, Amr seemed like a really down-to-earth person who is mainly driven by his passions in order to follow his dreams, and working on ANTISOCIAL seems to have helped him see his dreams become a reality which gave him the hope he needed to pursue his passions.
His replies were truly inspirational and I'm sure that, after hearing of his experience, a lot of people will have the determination needed to work on whatever projects they had postponed working on due to various fears and worries.
ー
you can watch ANTISOCIAL here!