Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Interview: SINK [Red Sea International Film Festival 2025 - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia] - Part II

1 week ago

Actors Mohammad Nizar & Clara Khoury talk to Fest Track about trust, approach and understanding in regards to their film: “Sink” playing the Red Sea Competition section of the 2025 Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Transcript

00:00This is Tim Wasper from Fast Trek on SERP TV.

00:29I'm here in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for the Red Sea International Film Festival.

00:34I think between me and Clara, it was very natural.

00:38We did a few calls on Zoom before, and it just felt instant.

00:42We had instant chemistry, but when she came to Jordan for rehearsals, before we started

00:47shooting, we really bonded.

00:50There was this mother-son relationship, and I think because Clara has a great relationship

00:55with her kids, and I have a great relationship with my mom, so it was easy for us.

01:00We built this mother-child intimacy very naturally, I think, with the guidance of Zayn, the director.

01:08We really knew where we were going, but I think it just happened, the chemistry just happened

01:16initially.

01:17That's the entry point, and then we worked on it more.

01:19Yeah, it was really important for me to get close to Mohamed Nizar, and to be friends.

01:30Be really friends, and we were on set even, you know, every break we would be together,

01:37we would eat together, phone calls after shooting, yeah, it was really special.

02:07Now, we reached the point that we can look at each other's eyes and really understand

02:13what we're thinking.

02:14Was it hard during the shoot?

02:16It really wasn't.

02:17No.

02:18Not for me.

02:19Because that's what we initially said, because it was natural, like, I think it was out of

02:23our hands, it just like happened, it dawned upon us for us to have this chemistry, so

02:27we really bonded, because it happens between people, you know, sometimes you just bond with

02:31a person, and you can speak to them with your eyes without really saying anything, and I

02:35think it was that, but we really felt like, you know, on set, it was a mother-son relationship.

02:40It really felt like that, and it felt safe for us to express ourselves, to be vulnerable,

02:45to be, you know, to experiment, to, there was no judgment, there was no, I mean, because

02:51Clara also has a huge experience, she didn't really, you know, mother me, like, acting-wise,

02:58no, she was very supportive, she was a friend, and that really helped.

03:02And it was all made of kindness, and love, and also what helped me is that you look so

03:08much like my son.

03:09Yeah.

03:10My son is eight, and same color, same spirit, and yeah.

03:15You talked about finding that sort of balance of energy, because you can go from rage and

03:21completely abandoned, to very, very childlike, and that's hard to do, you have to put yourself

03:27there.

03:28Yeah, I did, I did put myself there.

03:32So basically, because the illness is undiagnosed in the script, it was very important for me

03:37to know what the illness was, because I needed to follow, like, guide points, I needed to

03:42know what happens to patients at this point, especially the illness hasn't progressed in

03:47the script.

03:48And when we see Basil, that's, it's initial, like, that's when it's starting to happen.

03:52So it was very important for me to, like, know all the steps of the illness, just know the,

03:58the, um, how the progression, the arc of the illness, and then just to humanize that.

04:04Because at the end of the day, it's so easy to go, like, to make these, let's say, crazy choices

04:10with characters that have such a, you know, it's a character that you can do anything with

04:15a character who's, uh, who's going through mental challenges.

04:18It was very important for me, for him to stay human.

04:21I wanted people to feel like, oh, yes, I like him here.

04:24I don't like him here.

04:25I don't like him here.

04:26Um, he's, he's a son here.

04:28He's a villain here.

04:29No, no, no, no.

04:30And that's, I think that's human.

04:31It was very important for me.

04:33I mean, a mother's love, you know, it's, it's, it's a bond that you cannot, uh, defeat.

04:59And it's so strong that, and I mean, every mother would like her son to be successful

05:06and, you know, um, and especially, you know, coming from the Arab society where you expect

05:12your child to be perfect, where the society also is expecting you to, to be up to the,

05:19up to the expectations.

05:20And, uh, I mean, there is fear.

05:26Every mother has the fear that her son is not, you know, but the denial, the denial that

05:34everything's going to be okay.

05:35And this, this is natural.

05:37Every, every woman, every mother would, would like her, her kids to be, you know, thriving

05:43and happy and live a normal life.

05:46And I think I started, I wanted to keep this raw feeling that he's going to be okay.

05:54We're going to fix it.

05:55Yeah.

05:56He's going to be okay.

05:57And, uh, the, you know, the starting point from that, that's what led me to do Nadia also.

06:07And, uh, and there was a slight of fear.

06:13Yes.

06:14But also the overcoming of the fear that I'm going to take care of it.

06:19Let's take control of it.

06:20Let's let's, I'm going to help you.

06:22Yeah.

06:23And, um, so I had to keep this and rawness.

06:27And also, uh, I didn't want to study about the illness in my preparation.

06:33Like, I mean, I read a little bit about it, but I didn't like infuse myself with, you know,

06:39research and watching movies about schizoaffective.

06:42And, you know, I really wanted to keep it raw and a bit ignorant about it.

06:49So I can be as much authentic in my role.

06:53This is much about how the society sees them and how they care for them versus the family.

07:15Could you talk about that thematic?

07:17Because that's very important in how the story progresses.

07:21Yeah.

07:22I mean, it's a shame, you know, in our society, if you go to a therapist means something's

07:27wrong with you, you know, but, uh, on the contrary, I'm, I'm a big believer of, of, uh,

07:35mental health of therapy.

07:37I think it's needed for every person, even if nothing's wrong with you, because you need

07:42it at least once a week, you know, to take, take your thoughts out and journal and, you know,

07:49take care of your mental health.

07:50I would say, uh, there is a huge stigma regarding mental health in the Arab world, especially.

07:55And for movies like Sync, that's, that's the important thing.

07:58That's why we did the movie initially, because we want to start breaking that down.

08:02It is getting broken down, but it needs more.

08:04And I think the whole message from Sync is love, you know, love at the end of the day,

08:09whatever a therapist can do to a patient, really what we need all as humans is just to

08:14feel accepted and loved.

08:15And I think that's what happened between Barcelona and Nadia.

08:18We'll see you next time.

08:19Bye.

08:20Bye.

08:21Bye.

08:22Bye.

08:23Bye.

08:24Bye.

08:25Bye.

08:26Bye.

08:27Bye.

08:28Bye.

Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Interview: SINK [Red Sea International Film Festival 2025 - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia] - Part II

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