Vatche Boulghourjian, Cynthia Zaven – Tramontane #LFF2016

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Vatche Boulghourjian, director, and Cynthia Zaven, composer of the film Tramontane from the 60th BFI London Film Festival.

A Lebanese young man, a blind musician looking to go on a tour of Europe with his choir, suddenly and accidentally finds out that he may not be who he thinks he is – or who he was told he is – when he encounters problems upon requesting a new passport. This is the starting point of Tramontane, directed by Vatche Boulghourjian, which tells a story about identity and past, but also of music and family among other things.

We ask him about his decision of having a blind character as the central character of Tramontane and he reveals the ways in which he used this element but also how this blindness affected the ways in which the film was made and, revealingly, how it was shot. In his answer, he also talks about the fantastic performance of the actor playing said character, who really is blind in his life as well as a talented musician.

Speaking of music, as mentioned earlier, music is a very important element in the film, also because it comes straight from the Lebanese tradition. This is why it was priceless to be joined by the music supervisor and composer of the film’s score, Cynthia Zaven. It is she who reveals that Boulghourjian is a musician himself, though he humbly refuses to be called a musician.

Nevertheless, his sensibilities to the dramatic nature of Lebanese music certainly influences this film as a whole, fittingly places in the BFI London Film Festival’s section named Journey, as it is indeed a journey – the journey of a man looking for his origins and making plenty of discoveries along the way.

TRAMONTANE. Things begin to unravel unexpectedly when young blind musician Rabih applies for a passport to go on tour with his choir – doubt is cast on whether his documents are real, setting into motion a quest for his true identity. Rabih’s mother is unable to give him answers, whilst his uncle, once a celebrated general, disappears as Rabih’s questions multiply. As he sets out for villages across Lebanon in search of the truth, we begin to understand the sheer magnitude of the layers of collective silence that permeate the country’s recent past. In his first acting role, real-life musician Barakat Jabbour’s portrayal of Rabih’s drive and persistence is deeply moving, and his musical performances are magnetic and defiant. Boulghourjian’s poetic and sensitive debut, which premiered in Cannes’ Critics’ Week, is also a poignant reminder of the role of culture and storytelling in relaying truths and understanding the amnesia that surrounds complex histories.