by Sherif Awad
Exclusively for www.MeetingVenus.com
-I come from a creative background and have always been writing stories and performing– even in my early childhood. I always had a big passion for film, theater, dance and music and love that I can combine all my interests and passions as a director and screenwriter. All art forms are connected and I feel happiest when I can dive into a world full of imaginary characters and worlds. I think as a creative person, you always have that passion inside of you- you just have to let it out and give it some space.
-I never had one particular person as a role model, but I always admired people who are brave enough to do something different, experiment, shock and surprise their audience. That’s what art is all about. As a child and teenager I spent a lot of time dancing and performing on stage. I had already been writing short stories, but didn’t do much with them at that time. As soon as I finished school, I studied performing arts and focused on acting- which I loved. Soon after, I started writing more frequently and went to screenwriting courses, which gave me the confidence to turn some scripts into films. Nowadays, I follow my instinct a lot and do whatever I feel means the most to me. In the last few years I have mainly been working as a screenwriter and director and absolutely love what I’m doing. In general I think the real world will teach you much more than any course or book. I watch people, listen to the world around me and ask myself many questions throughout the day. Ideas constantly come to me- that’s my superpower.
– I consider myself a storyteller and fill completely full-filled when I get the chance to share my stories. Achieving stardom doesn’t mean much to me. I don’t think that would be the right motivation to create films.
– There are challenges when it comes to getting support. But I think things are slowly improving and instead of complaining about what’s not working, I always try to be active and do something about it. I wouldn’t let these kind of challenges stop me from what I want to achieve. “ Where there’s a will there’s a way” as they say.
-There is a lot of talent, but decision-makers need to be more open to new voices and stop playing it safe. Taking some risks would be the right way to go!
-About new offers, if it feels right I do it- if not, it’s not meant to be. My heart has to be 100% in it as I use a lot of passion for every project I work on. I think the people who work with me deserve
only the best. I always rely on my intuition and so far it has worked very well.
-I think it’s not possible to completely separate them, private and professional aspects of life. Things I do and the people I meet in my private life also have a huge influence on my projects. It’s all connected- that’s the exciting part!
-I have just finished my brand new sci-fi short called PINK ME BLUE, which will celebrate its world premiere in a few weeks. My last film THE FUNERAL DANCER is still on festival tour, I’m also about to finish my latest Esperanto film project called A VIOLENT NOISE (“Perforta Bruo”) and I’m working on the second season of my Instagram series SILENT DISCO, while writing on my first feature film script. Apart from that I’m trying to give women a new plattform with the festival I founded last year- the “Female Filmmakers Festival Berlin”- together with my partner in crime filmmaker Lara Celenza. We have also recently set up our own film distribution agency called “Highlights”, a boutique film festival distribution agency, which will help filmmakers to get into the festivals that fit best for their films.
