SAPERE AUDE, 6min., Australia
Directed by Chadai Chamoun
A man of science, trapped between the arcane and incomprehensible grief, resorts to unthinkable measures to try to prolong his beloved’s life. In all his heartache, he is devoured by his grief, unwilling to confront the reality of his wife’s condition until it is too late. There is no sense – no moral – in suffering. There is only pain. Hashir dares to discover the truth and faces the consequences.

https://chadai.pb.gallery/sapereaude
https://instagram.com/sapere.aude.film

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film? -- The initial idea for 'Sapere Aude' came to me when I learned that my 6 year old niece's cancer had become terminal. I was grieving and she wasn't even gone yet. It was devastating for our whole family. As I was processing the news (or rather, not processing), I was reminded of how Lovecraft's protagonists go insane when they are confronted with horrors beyond their comprehension. I was still at university, so at the end of the previous semester, my course director advised me to take the summer break to think about what film I wanted to pitch for our final year project, and to choose a topic I cared a lot about. I tried thinking of something else - something happier - but as I helped my brother and his wife through the next few months, there wasn't anything I cared about more. So I pitched Sapere Aude (back then we just called it "Madness"), and I was lucky to have a group of incredibly talented artists come aboard. Everyone has a story about cancer, it seems - and my teammates cared about the story just as much as I did.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film? -- I pitched the film in March 2023, and we immediately began pre-production. That lasted from March until June, and we initially wanted to get a head start on production during our winter break (June/July) - but my niece's health took a sharp decline in June, and passed away in early July. So I took a step back, and the film was on hold until we came back for semester 2 in early August. I remember finishing editing the film on Halloween night, just before midnight. We submitted it for our university deadline a few days later.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!? -- Overwhelming grief.

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film? -- For me, it was definitely the difficulty in balancing the circumstances that inspired the film, and my ongoing commitments to my family with my obligations as a director and animator. But aside from that, it would have to be the inherent difficulties that come with making a student film: absolutely no budget made it difficult to make sure my team members all had access to the tools they needed. It was also tiring to complete assignments and report to teachers so frequently, despite our teachers being fantastic - sometimes it felt like a "too many cooks" situation. But as I understand it, that feeling doesn't go away in-industry either. Unless you're totally independent, you're always going to have to justify your creative decisions to someone, so it was good practice too. I also feel that if our deadline had been in January or February instead of November, we could have polished up some areas of the film too.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video? -- I cried a little, honestly. It's so unbelievably comforting to know that even on the other side of the planet, people get our film. I'm also sort of sorry that people get it - no one should ever have to lose a loved one to something like cancer. It was an exhausting process to try to make sure that our film's message was intelligible, but it feels like it's really paid off. And not only do people appreciate the themes and message of our film, but as a piece of artwork and animation as well - that makes me feel so proud of all the hard work I and my team put in - not to mention the many, many late nights spent in the animation labs at uni.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films? -- I've been an artist since I could pick up a pencil, but filmmaking didn't come to me until late into high school when I was doing a subject called "Interactive Digital Media". Mostly the subject consisted of basic web design (html, css), editing photos in Photoshop, creating logos and assets in Illustrator, etc. But one of our final assignments was a fake road safety PSA ad with the prompt "How would you look after your mates?". I loved this assignment, and I took the time to paint some watercolour scenery on paper and scan them in to use as backgrounds for my animation. I didn't realise how much I enjoyed animation and storytelling until then. I'd dabbled in making comics, writing stories, that sort of thing but that was my first solid go at hand-drawn animation. When that was done, my teacher really encouraged me to study animation at university, and I couldn't be more grateful for that little push. I think I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be now.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life? -- If I had to guess, it'd be a tie between 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) since it's my comfort movie, John Carpenter's The Thing (1982), and High Noon (1952). I have no idea what that says about me.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career? -- Hard to say, since a lot of the festivals I've been accepted into have been overseas, and I haven't been able to attend. But I've volunteered with film festivals before, and honestly I can't think of anything more that your festival could be doing. I do think more festivals should publish proper write-ups with comments from and about their winning films; it's something that comes up when people Google a director's name, and especially for emerging filmmakers, that extra reach can make a lot of difference in your career.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site? -- So far it's been really good, it exposes me to so many different festivals I wouldn't even know existed! My main complaint is that a lot of festivals don't remember to update the status of submissions (especially those that aren't selected), or they continuously shift their notification date later and later without telling you. So I'll check daily, and I'll be left wondering whether I wasted money on a ghost festival or not. That's the other issue too - the bulk of festivals charge quite a lot of money for submissions, and not enough include student discounts, etc. I've spent a lot of my own savings on trying to submit to festivals, and my own film was made with no funding whatsoever. And in fact, because I did it through university, I actually paid to make it. I'm not saying submission should always be free, but phew, some festivals out there are charging more than $100 AUD for me to submit a student film that's less than 6 minutes long. Suffice to say, that greatly affects who gets to see the film.

10. What is your favorite meal? -- Kousa mahshi, a Lebanese dish that my mum and I make every year for my birthday since it falls in the middle of winter, when white zucchinis are in season. It's so comforting.

11. What is next for you? A new film? -- Hopefully a new film, yes! I'm working on some personal projects at the moment, and I've done a little bit of work on some other people's films (keep an eye out for Chris Paraskevas' "Janus", you'll see some of my animation in that). But through Sapere Aude I've made some lifelong friends, and we're all pretty much agreed that we'd like to keep working together to make our own films. We're in early pre-production for something, but I'm stepping back from directing for this one, I'm onboard as producer and animator for that. We're taking our time, so maybe we'll be finished with that one by late 2025 - it's hard to say right now.