Sound Portrait: “How did you do it?”

Short film created as part of the training program “Writing Sound for Cinema – Sound Portraits”, led by sound director Daniel Deshays, during the 21st edition of Valence Scénario – International Screenwriters Festival.
Presented on April 7, 2018 at Le Lux cinema in Valence.

The project explored a different approach to filmmaking: developing a film starting from its sonic material, building the narrative through sound before introducing the images.

The theme proposed for the workshop was fear.

In this sound portrait, Wahid recounts his memories of the Algerian civil war of the 1990s and the attacks that marked this period. Through his testimony, he reflects on how he gradually overcame fear in order to rebuild his life and integrate into French society.

The film follows an approach advocated by Daniel Deshays, who considers sound to be a primary material of cinema, capable of carrying narrative and symbolic meaning in its own right.

Filmmakers such as Alain Cavalier, Chris Marker, and Johan van der Keuken are among those who have explored this relationship between sound and cinematic writing.

Credits

Direction, image and sound
Bart Bell

Mentor
Daniel Deshays

Production
Scénario au long court – training program