[Frameworks] MUTE,

[Hassan Said]

Hello,
I am really proud to invite you to watch, online for the first time,  
one of the hardest projects/things i had experienced in  my life when  
i was 22  years old, my short MUTE.  Winner of the Germand  
Independence award at Oldenberg International film festival. This was  
an intense labor of love, not just for me but for all the crew involved.

ID LOVE TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS

please watch the film, and help spread it around, this is a film about  
social conscious, brutality,  and voices that are not heared by us in  
our societies.


WATCH THE FILM!!: http://vimeo.com/26599647

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT-

Mute is a film that speaks of perception, fear, retribution, our inner  
conscience and truth, a film that follows three characters that are  
“mute” in their individual ways. They are afraid to speak of their  
inner thoughts and desires, living each day of their lives as they come.

One of the original inspirations for the film came in 2007, when  
director Hassan Said read a story of a mother that decided to drown  
five of her children in a bathtub. The event left a resonance that did  
not escape Said’s mind, and he felt that there is a story to be told  
about a parent’s love.

“What can drive a father or a mother so far as to kill his or her own  
flesh and blood? Is it radical or logical? I started seeing an old  
lower middle class father, who lost everything in his life but his  
daughter, the only last thing that puts a smile on his face. If he  
were to ever loose her, he would definitely loose himself “

Autism was another subject matter Said wanted to tackle in a film, and  
he felt that MUTE was the perfect place for it. Said began his  
research by meeting with men and women who live with autism. As the  
script was written, Said only saw the color yellow bleeding throughout  
the film. Reflecting a metaphor for madness, a world being an insane  
asylum and how all the characters are trapped within that visual color.

”To me, autism is not an illness in any way, but a super mental energy  
that tends to be viewed as a naïve characteristic. The characters to  
me are all autistic in their own way… a father, bitter, jobless, who  
has a sour taste of life in his mouth and has nothing left in the  
world but his daughter; a photographer, who is fairly handsome and  
successful but has no understanding of himself along with a sexual  
frustration that juxtaposes his outside persona; and finally, Ana, a  
talented, gentle, hopeful, innocent angel, who has more heart than any  
of the characters and a creativity that makes her want to continue  
living in our current chaotic world.”

As rehearsals began, the actors forced themselves to dig deep inside  
their souls to touch the core of these characters. Especially for  
Vanessa (Ana), it was quite a challenge to absorb being autistic,  
i.e., learning the physical mannerisms. On top of that, she has to  
absorb the abuse of the only two men she knows in her life.

By the time principal photography came, every single person on the set  
could feel the emotional impact of these scenes as they unfold. It is  
infront of everybody and no longer on paper alone. The actors would be  
in tears between takes consuming their intensity to release in the  
characters they became.

“The unsettling cinematography, the non linear editing, and the  
emotionally driven performances all played off to me as a beautiful  
harmonic symphony. A film that is powerful from its story to its final  
sound mix. Everything worked together really well and concluded a  
story that I will never forget.”

In the end, Said’s main goal was to tell a story that would not shy  
from brutal imagery, not try to limit itself with predictable  
character resolutions, not follow a typical film-act structure, and  
psychologically push the characters to limitless extents.


AWARDS AND ACCOLADES:
WINNER of the Jury Award for Best Editing at the Big Easy Film Festival.
WINNER of the German Independence Award for Best foreign language  
short film at the Oldenburgh International Film Festival
WINNER of the Award of Merit for Short film and Direction - The  
Accolade Film Awards
Official Selection - Queens Film Festival
Official Selection - Independents' film festival
Official Selection - Jersey Shore Film Festival
Official Selection - ReelHeart International Film Festival
Official Selection - San Antonio Film Festival
Official Selection - Indie Fest USA
Official Selection - Atlanta Underground Film Festival.

for more info, please visit : mutethemovie.com
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