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The Most Beautiful Among Mothers: An Interview with Mahmoud Abu Jazi

Please tell us about the projects you worked on before making "The most beautiful among mothers". How did you start, and how did you learn to make films?

I finished my studies in cinema and theater in Athens and returned to Palestine in 1991, where I participated in dozens of films as an actor in secondary and leading roles and won many international awards, I gained good experience in filmmaking.

I started writing scripts and working as an assistant director in some local films, I then moved to film directing in last 10 years and directed 7 short films, their duration ranges from 3-15 minutes, some of which are silent with amateur actors and some with young people on various topics on social values, fighting violence, the environment and documentary films about autistic people and a documentary film about the history of Palestinian cities still in editing process.



Tell us about "The most beautiful among mothers". How do you describe it?

The film:"The most beautiful among mothers" is the best work I have made yet including the hard circumstances, the film is based on a true story of a Palestinian mother that still dreams about seeing her son, a groom on a white horse even after 4 whole years since his murder, she tries to communicate with him spiritually through his picture, refusing to believe that her son is dead, hoping he would return.

This is the situation of many Palestinian mothers because we are a nation who loves life, lose itself and happiness, this film is my message to the world that's about peace and love and human suffering and makes dreams come true.


Please tell us about your favorite filmmakers:

I had a personal experience with the late "Yukio Ninagawa" with a theatrical project "Trojan women" and he left a beautiful trail through his perspective on Art in general, But on cinematic level I consider Francis De Coppola and Mel Gibson important figures in the cinematic world.


If you were given a good budget, what would be your ideal project?

Producing a feature film with the technical crew and highly professional technical staff to deliver the message of the Palestinian mother to all of the world and build a bridge to peace and love to all humanity.



Describe how you would ensure that production is on schedule. What steps would you take?

Professional production company, professional technical staff and preparing all details in advance and studying every step before implementation and visiting sites and conducting reviews and planning each individual step,putting a timeline and re-checking the details before the shooting date.


What was the hardest part of making "The most beautiful among mothers"?

The political blockade, the censorship of topics, the identity of the job and low budgets, especially since the film:"The most beautiful among mothers" was made by most of the artists for free and on a voluntary basis.

I didn't have all the techniques needed to make the film but I'm stubborn so despite the diffuclt circumstances we continue moving forward and make films and innovate.


 If possible, tell us about your next work. What plans do you have for your future work?

I have a lot of ideas revolving around real Palestinian stories and as a screenwriter for films, I wanted to hire a professional screenwriter to build a screenplay around some of these stories.

My next project is a feature film about the story of "Ali" who traveled to Spain in the 1936 and fought alongside the oppressed against Franco and was martyred there, we found his grave 2 years ago and I intend to build a memorial for him which will be built at the end of the film.

It is a documentary fiction film that sheds light on both his life and journey which carries many human meaning and social values.

After several years of searching for the identity of the character "Ali', a story was written in a novel called:"Ali, an upright man" by the writer Hussein Yassin.


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