Tarik Saleh in his Cannes thriller The Republic Hawks

Tarik Saleh is surprisingly fun and joyful for filmmakers who produce thrillers involving religion and oppressive politics. The filmmaker, who became Sweden's most prominent street artist before becoming one of the country's largest star filmmakers, returned to the Cannes Film Festival with “Eagles of Republic” and won the best script with “Boy from Heaven” three years later. Saleh, who won the Grand Jury Award in 2017 at Sundance, premiered by the Nile Hilton Isside, his sophomore feature, “Boy from Heaven” is a trip around the world and was chosen by Sweden as Oscar to enter the world. With the Eagles of Republic, he has released the most ambitious film to date, reunited with fare by the Egyptian superstar coerced by the Egyptian government, and chaired the film al-sissi. As he gets closer to his inner circle of power, he finds himself involved in a dangerous plot.

Saleh, who produced the film through his own vehicle, Paraton, alongside Swedish banner Unlimited Stories and France's Memento, said he was compelled to make yet another film set in Cairo because he grew up in Sweden as “a child of immigrants,” and through his work, he's “been constantly trying to reclaim (his) own version of what Egypt is to me.”

Saleh said that in addition to Cairo as the background, Saleh said that the common point between the “Nile Hilton Incident”, “Boy from Heaven” and “Eagles of the Republic” was that they were about “people trying to defeat a city that could not be defeated.” Although the film is a novel, he admits that he was inspired by the Egyptian TV series, which is inspired by a handsome actor about Alcisi and doesn't look like him. Ultimately, Saleh said he didn't want to be labeled as a political filmmaker. “I'm not an activist, but I'm really fascinated by those in power,” he said. Because he knew “the people who worked during the Egyptian presidency”, he was able to give enough script textures to make the thriller tough enough to fill with real dark humor. In an interview type In Cannes, Saleh talked about the “Eagle of the Republic” and its aspirations and what he will do next in France.

How many of the “Eagles of the Republic” are based on reality and how the Egyptian government works?

Of course, there is a true story that inspired the film. In Egypt, the Army owns 30% of the country's economy, and when Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi was elected, he said: “Let's get involved in the media and film, too.” So the government basically took over the entire film industry and television. They purchased all private TV stations. And since they were owned by the Army, they decided to make a TV series involving the president's promotion to power. All they did was play the tall, handsome actor Yaser Galal to play Al-Sissi, a very short man. This is ridiculous. I'm watching TV series, sarcastic Zero, and of course, my first thought was: “What if I get a call and I'm told I have a direct call. What if my friend's fare has to be played? What would we do?” We couldn't refuse because we were banned at that time. I think this is an interesting premise.

Politically, how important is it to you to make related films?

I think a lot of times art can predict what will happen. I was very nervous about “a boy in heaven” because I thought it was for selfish reasons that I would predict something because I thought if I predicted something like this would suddenly become like this. When the so-called “Quran Burning Crisis” occurred in Sweden, I encountered the premiere of “The Boy in Heaven”. Suddenly, it was in the news and I made a movie. It's like what happened to “cendave” this year.

So, don't you want your film to be political?

What is politics? Politics is the relationship between power and people. So when you say “a political film,” it might mean it has an agenda that it wants to convince you about political views or the way you see the world. My movie is about humans under pressure in the power system. I'm very interested in power dynamics, but more like an audience. I'm not an activist, but I'm really fascinated by those in power. I actually know those who work during the presidency of Egypt. That's where I get a lot of information.

Oh, that's why “The Eagle of the Republic” feels great!

Some things in the movie are almost quoted from what people say and what they say. I'm fascinated by the technicality of how electricity works. If you take “Boy from Heaven” away, the role I agree most is National Security Official Ibrahim, that's not a student. In “The Eagles of the Republic”, I agree with Dr. Mansour. Because he is the real director of the movie in “The Eagles of Republic”.

In many ways, it is also a film about the Egyptian film industry and the work of the actors..

Yes, and the usual fares always ask me very difficult questions, but this time, I have a question. I asked him, “Will we care about an actor, especially this one?” Because I thought of what Amber heard during the trial, everyone laughed at her when she cried. People say, “Oh, that's not true. She's acting, right?” Because we don't think the actors show their true emotions. But the ticket price reassured me. He said to me, “No, Tarik, we will care about him. I promise you will care about him.”

The fare pushes it away. He really makes George a lovely charterr.

The fare makes George human. I wrote to him in a cynical way.

The scene about Viagra in the pharmacy is very interesting.

Listen, this story happened to me. But I didn't ask for it.

It's almost like a trilogy of a film made in Egypt. What made you tempt you back to Egypt to tell stories?

There are two reasons. The first reason is that when you grow up from immigrant children, your parents tell you the story of an almost fairy-tale homeland – it’s a paradox because you want to know, “Then we are here, if everything is fine?”

My father told me about Egypt and I had these very vivid images. Then, when I was 10, Anouar El-Sadate had just passed away and we could go back to Egypt. This is a shock. The reality of all these fairy tales my father built around Egypt was almost traumatized by reality. Since then, I went to Alexander to study art and started a magazine in Cairo. I've been trying to recycle my own version of Egypt. So, I have a very personal relationship with this place.

Why is Cairo so interesting for your movie?

In Arabic, Cairo refers to the conquerors. This is a very inconspicuous place. Every major city has its own personality. Cairo is where people come from Egypt and the entire Arab world to achieve their dreams, but the problem is that you won't do that. It will make you kneel. Cairo is a city that mocks you. It will deceive you. It will sell you unreal papyrus and you will feel stomachache, but it will shock you and it will conquer you. The Cairo trilogy is actually about men trying to defeat a city that cannot be defeated.

Why did you shoot the “Eagle of the Republic” at 65mm?

That's the scale I want. It feels like a movie. I've been dreaming of shooting 65mm behind my head since I saw the “parasite”. Then I saw the “Joker” and it was the same feeling. It's great to face and creates these beautiful textures. I'm so lucky to have a great producer in this movie. They gave me everything I wanted. I was a little nervous before Cannes. I thought I would be better off going into the main competition for this movie because no one wants to blame me.

You work with the Oscar-winning French music composer Alexandre Desplat in this film. So how about it?

This is a love affair. love at first sight. Did you know he has Greek ancestry? He has watched Egyptian movies since he was a child, so he knew all the references immediately, everything. So when he first saw a movie, he called me and he said, “This is a movie about a man selling his soul with pieces.” I said, “Oh, please write that music.” When we went to Paris to record music, I started writing new scripts that night.

How hopeful are you about the “Eagle of the Republic” to find a good American distributor? Who will run for this?

I hope. I think the United States is going through a tough time. This is weird to me because you know I work a lot in the US. I think I'm nervous about films like the Middle East and Arabic dealings. But I think the difference from this movie is that it is not like the last “Boy in Heaven” in the end, which really makes people feel nervous. I can say people don't know how to talk about it. I remember interviewing American journalists who almost yelled at me, “What is true?” I thought, “This is a fictional movie!”

Your last two movies find audiences in the theater, and this movie is easier to get. Do you care how many people watch it in the cinema?

For me, the relationship with the audience is key. Many directors say, “I don't care. I just made these movies for me…” But that's because they never had an audience. The audience’s expectations are something you play with. I was shocked by “Boy from Heaven” because Alexandre Mallet-Guy (co-producer and French distributor) bought it from Berlin and he brought me to Paris and he said to me, “Tarick, you made a really good movie. If this didn't have a 300,000 reception in France, I didn't finish my job.” It struck me and saw a responsible distributor. Finally, “Paradise Boy” passed 500,000 tickets. French film culture is almost a sanctuary.

I think France has a lot of teaching how the United States and the rest of Europe how to attract audiences and how to make the audience feel like this is a message for an event because I believe that cinemas can actually save us. People are very pessimistic about the future of movies, but I believe it is very, very bright. Because of our phone calls and these social media platforms, we can’t escape ourselves, so there is this constant narcissistic feedback and our lives are broken. What the movie provides us with is this kind of empathy behavior, we live two hours in two hours and forget our own life for two hours.

You are one of the main filmmakers in Sweden. Do you think you'll be there someday?

I was very close to Ali Abbasi and we were joking about him being invited to Egypt with the “Holy Spider” and to Iran with the “Boy of Heaven”. But this was in a time of time when Billy Wilder and Elia Kazan and even people like Milos Forman left Europe to go to the United States to find a platform for film and gaining freedom. I think this will happen. We can only make those in Europe. In this sense, we are European filmmakers because Billy Wilder is an American filmmaker who is talking about the horror of what is going on in Europe.

In fact, more and more American film producers are coming to Europe to make movies.

Yes, we've seen migrations start coming here from the United States. In Europe, we must also begin to protect our freedom, art freedom of speech. We are also threatened by authoritarians and fascists and people who want to limit this. Now, I sound like a political activist and a political filmmaker.

You mentioned before, are you starting to write your next movie in France?

There is a good chance I'm doing something in France.

That's a love story?

There is always a love story. But I can say that it is still a political thriller because I think there are a lot of political thrillers to talk about in France. First of all, this is a nuclear energy.