In Wissam Charaf's movie, Dirty Difficult Dangerous, actress Clara Couturet has been nominated for the Female Newcomer Award at the 2024 César Awards. In this film, she stars alongside Ziad Jallad, Rifaat Tarabay and Darina Al-Joundi, with an original score by Zeid Hamdan.
Scheduled for release in Lebanese cinemas on Thursday, January 11, 2024, Dirty Difficult Dangerous will premiere on Monday, January 8, at 18:30 at the Grand Cinemas ABC – Achrafieh, by invitation, attended by the film's crew. This feature film debuted globally at the Venice Festival 2022, where it inaugurated the Giornate degli Autori section, it also won the Europa Cinemas Award.
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Dirty Difficult Dangerous by Wissam Charaf transcends mere cinematic aesthetics to narrate a profound human experience. "Ahmed, a Syrian refugee, hoped to find love in Mehdia, an Ethiopian housemaid. But in Beirut, this seems an impossibility... Will this pair of sentimental refugees manage to navigate their path to freedom while Ahmed, a survivor of the war in Syria, is plagued by a mysterious ailment that gradually turns his body into metal?"
In a previous interview following the film's acclaim in Venice, Wissam Charaf remarked, "Clara Couturet’s performance is particularly poignant in this film, portraying a housemaid immigrant in love with a refugee. In a dimension both human and transcendental, the psychological depth of the actors is central to the narrative of exile and the quest for love." Regarding actor direction, Charaf instructed them, in an unconventional manner, simply to "not act." He crafts his cinematic tapestry in the editing process. Thus, Clara Couturet’s performance emerges as raw, as close to truth as possible. "The physical disparity between the actors was marked; Ziad is quite tall, whereas Clara is notably petite. She had to perform in Arabic, a language foreign to her, as well as Ethiopian, and wore double soles to avoid a 'Laurel and Hardy' appearance, a challenging feat. Clara was particularly horrified and shocked by the treatment of Ethiopian women in Lebanon," continued the director.
By following the trajectory of Clara Couturet, one delves into the heart of the foreigner, learning to know, understand and love them beyond prejudices and the gaze of others. Clara Couturet illuminates the screen, presenting a soul laid bare, offering her vulnerability and authenticity to the camera. She challenges the norms, the lights, exile and judgments. In front of the camera, she is... simply a woman.
Marie-Christine Tayah
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