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PRAY

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Synopsis: 
This film is an emotional music video shot for Samia Tawil’s song « Pray ». 
It was shot amongst the artist community of the Tacheles squat in Berlin just 
weeks before it was shut down and the land sold to private investors. 
This video was initially filmed to support these artists’ efforts by trying to sensitize 
the audience about the need to save the Tacheles and the values that it symbolized.
The video is a final hommage to the freedom of choice the squat symbolized and 
a testimony of the last moments of life of this very particular place.
A place that will always remind us that we should not neglect the dignity and freedom 
we owe ourselves and one another. Art as resistance in the making.
 
 Synopsis:
 
           This film is a music video that was partly shot as a documentary, where Samia Tawil 
           sings in the middle of the squat, surrounded by the artists that inhabited it and gave 
           it a soul to it. In this video, the remaining artists resist by continuing to paint, sculpt, 
           sing, as they had always done, exercising their freedom until the very last minute, 
           despite the impeding threat of the bulldozers. Beyond this, Samia Tawil, through 
           her lyrics, screams out one last prayer before the end of it all, highlighting that 
           whatever the authorities take away from them, they will never be able to grasp nor 
           seize their freedom of thought and expression. This spirit of freedom will survive far 
           beyond the wall of this squat in each and every one of these unique individuals who 
           once infused the place with life and creativity.

 

https://vimeo.com/search?q=samia+tawil+pray
Runtime: 
5:05
English subtitle: 
No
https://vimeo.com/232332877
Information for the Audience: 
The Film:
This film is an emotional music video shot for Samia Tawil’s song « Pray ». 
It was shot amongst the artist community of the Tacheles squat in Berlin just 
weeks before it was shut down and the land sold to private investors. 
This video was initially filmed to support these artists’ efforts by trying to sensitize 
the audience about the need to save the Tacheles and the values that it symbolized.
The video is a final hommage to the freedom of choice the squat symbolized and 
a testimony of the last moments of life of this very particular place.
A place that will always remind us that we should not neglect the dignity and freedom 
we owe ourselves and one another. Art as resistance in the making.
 
The Filmmaker: 
 
Film, like art more generally is a window into consciousness; a means to 
raise awareness on topics and causes that are just too often forgotten. 
With a background in philosophy and a career as a rock/soul singer-songwriter with 
powerful messages of freedom, Samia Tawil knows what art and depth implies. 
Being of Syrian, Moroccan and Swiss origins, Samia Tawil’s music and films always
aim to sensitize the audience on hot and current issues, and to softly lead one to 
engage with these causes, take action, and overcome the mere status of spectator.
 
Samia Tawil first came to crossover from music to filmmaking only because she felt her 
songs and messages were too dear to her heart to let their visual aspect depend 
on soemone else’s vision. As an indie artist with limited means, she came to direct 
and edit her own music videos, and perfect her skills in this field, and is now developping
well as a young director and editor, whose films are the true reflection of her music and background: 
a rebelliously poetic testimony for social justice. full of emotion, revolt.
 
With her first film "Pray", as well as her films «Daddy Kkows» and «Modern slaves», Samia Tawil
is now proving herself as a filmmaker with a unique style, and proves well her will to have make a difference
in the same way she does it in her musical career in Europe and Morocco, where she’s considered to
be the first female rocker and a true model for the new generation of artists; an artist who has dared
to cross boundaries.

 

Categories:

Screenings / Awards: 

Premiere, Geneva, 2016

Mawazine Festival, 2016, Morocco

Madrid Art Film Festival, sepember 2017, Spain

Information for theatres: 
The Film: 
This film is an emotional music video shot for Samia Tawil’s song « Pray ». 
It was shot amongst the artist community of the Tacheles squat in Berlin just 
weeks before it was shut down and the land sold to private investors. 
This video was initially filmed to support these artists’ efforts by trying to sensitize 
the audience about the need to save the Tacheles and the values that it symbolized.
The video is a final hommage to the freedom of choice the squat symbolized and 
a testimony of the last moments of life of this very particular place.
A place that will always remind us that we should not neglect the dignity and freedom 
we owe ourselves and one another. Art as resistance in the making.
 
The Filmmaker: 
 
Film, like art more generally is a window into consciousness; a means to 
raise awareness on topics and causes that are just too often forgotten. 
With a background in philosophy and a career as a rock/soul singer-songwriter with 
powerful messages of freedom, Samia Tawil knows what art and depth implies. 
Being of Syrian, Moroccan and Swiss origins, Samia Tawil’s music and films always
aim to sensitize the audience on hot and current issues, and to softly lead one to 
engage with these causes, take action, and overcome the mere status of spectator.
 
Samia Tawil first came to crossover from music to filmmaking only because she felt her 
songs and messages were too dear to her heart to let their visual aspect depend 
on soemone else’s vision. As an indie artist with limited means, she came to direct 
and edit her own music videos, and perfect her skills in this field, and is now developping
well as a young director and editor, whose films are the true reflection of her music and background: 
a rebelliously poetic testimony for social justice. full of emotion, revolt.
 
With her first film "Pray", as well as her films «Daddy Kkows» and «Modern slaves», Samia Tawil 
is now proving herself as a filmmaker with a unique style, and proves well her will to have make a difference 
in the same way she does it in her musical career in Europe and Morocco, where she’s considered to 
be the first female rocker and a true model for the new generation of artists; an artist who has dared 
to cross boundaries.
 
 

 

PDF icon press_kit_pray_samia_tawil.pdf
Directed by: 
Samia Tawil
Writing credits: 
Samia Tawil
Cast: 
Musicians: Samia tawil Raphael Despas Sculptors/painters: Kerta, Angelo, Özgur, Grazziano, Emilie
Produced by: 
Samia Tawil
Music by: 
Samia Tawil
Cinematography by: 
DP: Dafina Gervalla Assitant DP: Timon DeGraaf
Film Editing by: 
Samia Tawil
Art Direction by: 
Samia Tawil /Dafina Gervalla
Release Date: 
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Official website: 
www.samiatawil.com.
Total votes: 3543

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