A Cinema To Unite Enemies And Cultures: Mayan Engelman & Eliran Peled On Their Short "Cinema Rex"
Mayan Engelman and Eliran Peled are award-winning directors whose films have screening around the world. Engelman is an Independent Visual Development artist who specializes in Character Design and Concept Art for Animation; Peled has directed 14 shorts and is the youngest director ever in Israel to receive the main government fund for his forthcoming directorial feature. Engleman and Peled’s joint effort, Cinema Rex, is an animation short based on a true story that focuses on two kids who form a close friendship through their mutual love for cinema. Cinema Rex was actually a real cinema that was working between 1937-1939 in Jerusalem, one of the only businesses at the time that was co-owned by Jewish and Arab owners.
Jerusalem,1938. In a divided city, two kids from rival sides meet at Cinema Rex. He speaks only Hebrew, and she speaks only Arabic. They will manage to form a true friendship based on one magical language, cinema.
This stunning film will be screening online as part of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. We had the opportunity to chat with Mayan and Eliran about the film, the power of cinema, creating lovable characters, and much much more!
A big part of the short is how beautiful and amazing cinema’s power is, that it has the ability to form bonds in addition to creating a personal connection with an individual. Where does your individual love for cinema originate and how did it bring the two of you together?
Eliran: My life changed when I was six: I watched a scratchy DVD copy of the Italian film Cinema Paradiso. There were no subtitles, so I didn’t understand a thing, but by the time the credits began to roll, I had an answer for the question "what are you going to do when you grow up?"
I decided that I am going to make movies. As the time past, I watched Cinema Paradiso with the subtitles. The movie theater in my neighborhood became my temple. It wasn’t Paradiso, it was Rav Hen Kiriat Ono, but For the wired kid that I was, this place was home, a bubble of happiness away from daily reality.
In recent years my obsession grew. Now it’s not only movies, it's also the stories of old movie theaters. The minute I heard the story of Cinema Rex I knew that this is a story that should be told. Cinema Rex ran in Jerusalem under British rule from 1938, on the border of the Jewish and Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem, across the street of the British police station. It was one of the only business in the city managed by an Arab and a Jewish entrepreneurs. And the audience were people from the entire city. In a divided city, Cinema Rex was a magical bubble of sanity. Until reality knocks on its door. Once I pitched it to Mayan (almost 4 years ago) we became partners in this journey, and for that I am forever grateful.
Mayan: As an artist that prefers a lot more drawing then to talking, I found the animation world as a perfect way to communicate.
When Eliran told me about "Cinema Rex" story, a real cinema in the middle of a war zone, fulfilling coexistence in its best, with such a naive and honest way, I couldn't resist jumping in! It held the pure magic that moving pictures has to offer. Telling it through animation was such a great experience.
The other important aspect of the short is highlighting how Jews and Arabs can coexist peacefully, which is based in truth. How did the two of you come across the real story that the film is based on?
Eliran: I read an old short article about this story and immediately started to research it. Since then we even managed to locate the kids of the original owners of the cinema.
What was the process for creating and designing the film’s lovable characters?
Mayan: Since this story takes place in our homeland on such a huge point of our national history, we felt obligated to learn and research as much as possible about the Cinema Rex story. Once we finished the research, we had that feeling that this very harsh reality will take too much attention from our main point. So we decided to tell this story through the eyes of two little kids, which instinctively made everything look a lot sweeter and more lovable. We took our main inspiration from Disney’s 30s-50s classics. And a lot of the essence of the characters and environment I found from photos from that time.
Are there any films or filmmakers that influence your storytelling or visual style?
Eliran: I have a new cinema idol every few months! Right now, I am obsessed with the work of Jacques Demy. In the animation field, I am a big fan of Brad Bird, I can watch the The iron Giant on repeat.
What do you hope audiences take away from the film?
Eliran: Our film tells a story about the power of cinema to unite enemies and cultures. Our message is about the power that relies in finding a root of communication, in our film the common language they find is the cinema.
Mayan: I am a true believer of coexistence, and that is the main reason I fell in love with the Cinema Rex story.
Rex served as an actual pink bubble of sanity in such a harsh reality and allowed people from all kinds to find a common language and forget their differences. I hope it will inspire our audience as much as it inspired me.
The film was built not just as a short but as a proof of concept for an eventual feature. What are you most excited about expanding on in the full-length format?
Eliran: The short is actually 7 minutes out of the full script, which I’ve been working on over the past two years. I am very excited to show a deeper side to Mouize and Ranin's friendship. They learn to communicate through film cuts, drawings, and stories they tell each other. They go on amazing adventures through their imagination and the magic of the seventh art. But at the same time, the feature plot will show that the magic of the movies skips the adult world. We witness the endless circle of hate and violence, each side believing they’re right, but yet they just make the situation more complex and dangerous every day. The endless clash claims victims daily, and still does until the day it reaches our protagonists. Then Mouize and Ranin's friendship will be tested — and we’ll see if the magic of cinema is stronger than reality.
Aside from a Cinema Rex feature, do you have any new projects in the works that you can share with us?
Mayan: Most of the projects I involved with are still confidential, so, unfortunately, I can't tell too much. I can only say that I just finished art directing an animated series in development, and that at this very moment, I am doing visual development at Netflix for an unannounced animated feature, alongside developing our full story of Cinema Rex.
Eliran: I am currently in pre-production for my first live-action film Euphoria-Victory Year. It is a musical film. I am also directing a new docu-series for an Israeli broadcaster. This is all happening while I am still working full time on the development of the Cinema Rex feature.
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!