Tala Hadid is a writer, director, and photographer. Her first film,“Sacred Poet,” centered on Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini. She’s directed several short films, including “Tes Cheveux Noirs Ihsan,” which received an Academy Award and was named Panorama Best Short Film at the Berlinale.
“House in the Fields” premiered at the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival on February 13.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
TH: Community. Nature. The bonds of sisterhood.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
TH: The village where the film takes place is in a very remote area of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. The rites and traditions of the farming communities of this particular valley have remained more or less untouched for thousands of years.
I wanted to chronicle the life of this community — including its labor practices, rituals, traditions, and relationship to the land — before it changed.
W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?
TH: How a very different world and societal structure can seem very far and yet be very close and similar to one’s own.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
TH: That the film be worthy of the great and poetic people of the Atlas Mountains who welcomed me — and a camera — with such profound generosity, into their community.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
TH: The film was made with the support of institutional funding.
W&H: What does it mean for you to have your film play at Berlin?
TH: I’m delighted that the film will play at Berlin. I think it has found the perfect home and place to start its life.
W&H: What’s the best advice you’ve received?
TH: Passion, commitment, and belief is what will get you through.
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
TH: Don’t ever doubt your strength and your conviction. Rely on them — as well as passion, commitment, and rigor — to get you through.
When you face obstacles or discrimination because of your gender, toughen yourself, so that nothing will stop you. Where there is solidarity, go.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
TH: Kira Muratova is my favorite woman director. She’s a masterful filmmaker and a poetess. She faced the most impossible of obstacles — a ban on her work — and yet came through on the other side to continue to make great and powerful cinema.
