Weeping Willow. By Krystel El Koussa
-A passionate photographer is moved to action by her mother’s painful past.
A young passionate photographer, still affected by her parents’ split, lives with her emotionally unstable mother. Everyday situations that pass unnoticed by others, touch her in the deepest ways, bringing back glimpses of her painful past. Between her and her mother grows a bond so strong yet so delicate, a bond that she tries effortfully to save.
Krystel El Koussa is a young Lebanese filmmaker who is passionate about photography and cinema since the age of 9. Born in 1996 and raised in Lebanon, she studied Cinema and Audio-Visual Arts at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Lebanon where she was ranked first in Cinema.
She is currently an assistant director, assistant producer, photographer and editor.
She was one of the Lebanese filmmakers to be accepted in Talents Beirut 2018, an intensive workshop dedicated to Young Arab Filmmakers, initiated by Metropolis Cinema in collaboration with Goethe Institute, Berlinale Talents and FID Marseille.
It is also worth mentioning that she won the Photography Competition of La Nuit Des Musées 2018 by the Lebanese Ministry of Culture.
Her short film "Weeping Willow" which she wrote, directed and edited, was screened at several international film festivals and won an award in Canada.
“ Being a university student, shy of experience in directing and writing scripts, it was most natural to be inspired by my life to write the script to my short film. The result is a touching story with a beautiful cinematic twist.
As student filmmakers, for our graduation shorts we tend to pick a topic that is close to us, something that we relate to or something that we’ve experienced. This makes it easier for us to write, direct, and film for the first time in our lives. In my case, my childhood experiences and my love for my mother inspired Weeping Willow — with a little twist in the story, of course.
My goal was writing and directing the film with very little dialogue between my characters, which was not easy. Words usually make it easier to communicate what you want to convey to the audience, but silence speaks louder than words, right? I thought it would be much more interesting if my characters, instead of talking, communicated through the five senses and the four elements (earth, water, air, and fire).
I had a rough childhood where my parents separated. I never before had the courage to speak publicly about it, let alone write a movie about it! So, long story short, my film talks about a young girl in her twenties, living alone with her mother. Still affected by her parents’ split, she’s taking care of her mother who’s emotionally unstable. The girl reacts towards people, things and places that remind her of what she had lived in the past, the pain and the drama. In the film, we experience the struggle between both characters, the ups and downs of a mother/daughter relationship and the dramatic life they lead.
Finally, I believe that it is by overcoming one’s deepest and darkest memories that one will be able to enjoy the present moment and the future. “
