Leila

Everyone has a story to tell. We just keep some stories to ourselves. Maybe because no one asked for it, or we are afraid to speak loudly.
Leila is not a single story. In fact, it is a collection of stories that was shared with me and personal experiences that I had. I found something common in all stories, silence has cost us dearly. Under the title “Rape” this dramatic story is classified. I decided then to make the victim a “female” character since I met several women that struggled with Sexual assault which is defined as any sort of sexual activity in which a person is involved against their will. Most of the victims didn’t take any action; I take the response to do it for them. Even if it is imaginary, I hope this will make it more powerful and more emotional for all kinds of people.
The name Laila is a girl's name of Arabic origin meaning "night" or “dark night”. The events of this story happen during one night. The human body's autonomic nervous system gives it three options in traumatic situations: fight, flight, or freeze. I made a symbol for each. Dance is the fight the protagonist Laila has chosen. And for her, during the flight option, she works as a dancer in cabaret after her family abandoned her. Regarding the freeze option, it is all about silence, the film contains one dialogue only, Laila doesn’t speak any word, her body and facial expressions are the weapon.

I was inspired by the work of Samia gamal, an Egyptian belly dancer and actress who created her own unique dancing style, a mix of oriental and modern dancing technique. I chose this type of dance for the performance. And for Laila, Samia was her idol, we see pictures of her in Laila’s room, and she wears the same costume as her when she was young.
The events of the film happen when Laila is preparing herself for the performance; the memories come out from the past and formulate her next actions. She is weak, silent and broken, all what she has is her body. But she knows very well how to speak through dancing. Therefore when she has the opportunity to dance, she did, in her own way, a dance full of reactions and expressions on each situation she suffered from.
Laila appears in the film as a young girl, and for this stage, Day shots with natural light source and outdoor places, which reflects brightness, normal lifestyle and innocence take place. She wears soft colors, white and mint green, matching with different items in each scene to show how balanced and stable her life is. After being raped and abandoned, everything changes to sharp with high contrast, and night shots only. In cabaret scenes, the main characters wear dark colors, black or grey mainly, and Laila wears red color related to intense, danger and difference. She is here for a reason and she is not like the others.

My style of shooting is the vintage style, I used Tracking shots several times especially for Laila’s shots to make the audience feel like they’re a part of the scene and are active participants in the story together with the actors, and different camera angles to enhance emotions. I chose two different oriental music soundtracks; each fits with what is happening and who is performing.
For editing, I use quick cuts for Laila’s sad memories (rape, clash with family...), the first minutes of the film are flashbacks, events from the past, I tried to make a new style by putting them in such a way that seems to be unorganized, since I want it to appear on the screen the same as it does in Laila’s mind. At the moment she appears again to perform her dance, a long-one-take shot is used since I want the revenge part to take up more space in the film.
I believe that our body is our own, and no one has permission to do anything against our wishes. There are different ways to express our feelings and thoughts, we are the only ones who choose when, where and how to take this decision.