Oscar-nominated Syrian filmmaker Talal Derki (“Of Fathers and Sons”) is in Copenhagen this week pitching a top-secret documentary, “Hollywood Gate,” whose details are being kept under wraps during CPH:FORUM, the international financing and co-production event held during the Copenhagen Intl. Documentary Film Festival (CPH:DOX).
The new feature, which the director confirmed is not being filmed in his native Syria, is currently in production, with Derki expecting to secure most of his footage by the end of the year. “We don’t want to put [the director’s] life in danger,” said Derki, who spoke exclusively to Variety about “Hollywood Gate” and other upcoming projects.
Describing the high-risk feature as a “very promising film,” the director said it’s the product of “very rare access” to “dangerous people” in key positions in an undisclosed country. “Hollywood Gate” will be directed by a first-time director working under the pseudonym Ibrahim Mohammad to protect his safety.
Derki said Mohammad has already gained his trust. “He’s a very promising talent,” said the filmmaker. “He knows where to put the camera, what to film, how to hunt the right moment.”
The Oscar-nominated director is also in the editing room with “A Song for Summer and Winter,” the last film in his acclaimed Syrian war trilogy that includes “Return to Homs,” a ground-level look at the Syrian civil war which won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014, and “Of Fathers and Sons” (pictured), a portrait of a close-knit radical Islamist family which won the same prize at Sundance in 2018 and was nominated for an Academy Award.
“A Song for Summer and Winter” explores violence against women in Syria, a situation that the director said has worsened since the beginning of the civil war in 2011. “It’s about the forgotten war,” said Derki. “It’s a war that happens on every corner, on every street, in every house. Everybody feels ashamed but don’t have the power to talk about it.”
The decade-long civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and forced millions into exile. Many Syrian men have set off on dangerous solo journeys to Europe, where they hope to establish a foothold before sending for their wives and families. That has left a disproportionate number of women behind to rebuild the country, with roughly 70% of Syria’s population today comprised of women, said the director.
Yet many victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence are afraid to go public with the crimes committed against them. “They are unable to speak loudly about what’s happening,” said Derki. “We encourage [women] to speak out. We try to change the understanding…[and tell them], ‘You have the right to say there are crimes happening against me.’” The film will also touch on episodes of sexual exploitation in the Syrian film industry, which the director said are rife.
Derki is also producing “Azel,” the feature directorial debut of Heba Khaled. The psychological horror, which is fully financed by the Dubai-based streaming platform OSN, is set in a conservative household in 1930s Damascus and centers on an honor killing. Principal photography is expected to begin this summer.
“Azel” is the first fiction feature produced by Derki, who said that the unique history and culture of the Arab world offer a fresh palette for genre filmmakers. “We can create new sorts of horror films and mystery films [that are] really different than anything else,” he said. “It’s going to be a new wave.”
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