In a world where everyone has already made up their minds, it’s not easy to share your feelings. Yet many young people feel the need to talk and to be heard, notes the Future Face youth foundation in Amstelveen. Yesterday a group of young people from Future Face in Cinema Amstelveen the short film ‘Kifesh’, a raw film adaptation of their own inner world.
Kifesh means ‘Why?’ or “What’s going on?” in Moroccan. The word is popular in slang and describes exactly the need of young people: genuine interest in their environment. The film Kifesh is the end product of the InnerWorld project, in which the young people went in search of their own inner world through acting, script writing, production and editing. They were guided in this by the acting school Klas Alpha.
“The stories are harrowing and must first be told before we can make a change by, for example, adjusting policy.”
“We took a different approach to this project than to other films. We wanted to find the actors first and then find the stories based on that,” says Future Face founder Jashin Baroud. In this way he has tried, together with director Wes Mutsaars, to create storylines that are as close as possible to the raw reality.
The film addresses themes such as discrimination and bullying, but also less obvious themes that, according to Baroud, too often remain under the radar. “Manipulation, power relations, money, status and the constant pursuit of being seen,” he sums up. “The stories are harrowing and must first be told before we can make a change by, for example, adjusting policy.”
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Eighteen-year-old Justin Tebbema, for example, plays an ambitious young rapper who falls prey to a manipulative music producer. He recognizes the stress of his character Hugo for making the right choices. “The project has been good for my personal development,” Justin tells NH Nieuws after the premiere. “We’ve had a lot of conversations about who I really am.”
At Kimya, played by Nikki Khosrudi, emotions ran so high that the girl decided to put a knife to her wrist. It was quite emotional for her to see that intense scene again. Those feelings from when I was acting came back to me,” she says. “I’m a lot happier in real life,” she quickly adds. “But I do recognize that I often keep negative emotions inside.”
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Actor Sokol Biblekaj found it especially special to see how his friends and family reacted to his acting performance. “Those reactions have a special place in my heart. I did not expect that they would react like that,” he says.
During the InnerWorld project, young people from Future Face between the ages of 15 and 21 went in search of their ‘inner life’ during a series of seven acting lessons. In addition to the short film Kifesh, the young people also made a video podcast, with a look behind the scenes. Future Face received a subsidy from the municipality of Amstelveen for the project and also collaborated with Platform C and the Klas Alpha acting school. The project is expected to be continued every year.
The special bond that the young people have built up with Baroud is perhaps best expressed when they shout loudly, applauding ‘boomer’ (ed.: ‘older’ person) through the hall when he appears on the silver screen. Baroud is clearly a boomer who does understand the young people and that mainly comes from personal experiences.
Baroud sees the premiere of Kifesh primarily as a milestone in his struggle to offer young people a stage. “This requires resources and money, but the system is very viscous and young people want now and quickly.” Baroud also struggled with problems when he was young. This eventually led to a serious suicide attempt. “I have a line on my wrist that reminds me of that moment and now I’m standing here,” he proudly tells a room full of people on Sunday evening.
Are you struggling with suicidal thoughts yourself? You can talk about it anonymously: chat via www.113.nl, call 113 or call toll-free 0800-0113.