The One Man Village (Semaan Bilda'ia) R: Simon El Habre Land: Libanon 2008 Drehformat: HDcam Format: HDcam, Farbe Länge: 86 Minuten Sprache: Arabisch mehr Informationen TRAILER / Flash / 1:50

Semaan El Habre, Onkel des Filmemachers, ist der einzige Bewohner des Dorfes Ain El-Halazoun. Der libanesische Bürgerkrieg zwang die Dorfbevölkerung 1982 zur Flucht und hatte die Zerstörung ihrer Häuser zur Folge. Dauerhaft zurückgekehrt ist nur Semaan, der seit fünf Jahren in einem von Ruinen umgebenen Haus lebt, allein mit seinen Tieren und seinen Erinnerungen. (...)
Ein Film, in dem Schrecken und Schönheit, Schmerz und Poesie nah beieinander liegen. Eine unaufdringliche Reflexion über Heimat, die Verbundenheit mit Orten und Menschen, die Auswirkungen von Krieg sowie den Versuch, schmerzhafte Erinnerungen ins Leben zu integrieren. [aus dem Forumprogramm]

How would you describe the aesthetics of your film?
Harmonized with subject and the content of the film.

Why did you choose to shoot on a digital format (was it solely for financial reasons, or did aesthetics play a role)?
To shoot a documentary on film is not an easy task, neither practically (cause you need a larger crew to be able to move faster), nor financially (cause you need to shoot a lot and film costs).
My subject is a very intimate one, I wanted to minimize the crew to the maximum on the set, so video was the best solution.

Which format exactly did you choose (MiniDV, DVCAM, HDV, HD...), and why?
I shot on HDCAM format with 35mm lenses.
The aesthetic part of the film, the lighting, the details in the image were very important in the treatment of the film.
After several discussions with the DOPs, and for the following reasons, we decided to shoot on HDCAM: Most of the film was shot in a low light. We needed to get the maximum details in these conditions. Also the final film will be on 35mm and released in theaters, so maximum resolution and the maximum contrast ratio was required.

And it turned to be a very good choice at the end :)

What was special about shooting digital (e.g. compared to 35mm, was it your first time with dv or are you used to it ..)?
Shooting on digital gives more flexibility, which is needed a lot in a documentary. The filmmaker can allow himself to shoot more, spend time with people when interviewing them to get closer to his characters.
Still, the quality of the image is very important to me; this is why using the high definition format was essential.
I was familiar with DV and the HDV format, “The One Man Village” was the first project where I use the HD. But of course I had the chance to see the result of some projects shot on HD, and to make some tests on the camera before I decided to use it for this film.

What was your shoot-edit ratio?
1:20

One good word about DV / HDV / HD (or two):
Flexible.

One bad word about DV / HDV / HD(or two):
Still far from film.