From the "People" Archives:

by Anthony Kaufman

First films are never easy. Sure, getting financing is nearly impossible -- and don't even mention distribution -- but what about just getting the guts to direct in the first place? Forget your day job, throw caution to the wind and make a movie that costs at least three times more than your annual salary? For Ziad Doueiri, the Lebanese-born, LA-based director of "West Beirut," a stirring coming-of-age set during Lebanon's civil war in 1975, he's still asking himself that very question.

Born in Lebanon in 1963, Doueiri spent his adolescence riding scooters and avoiding bombs until 1983, when his family left the war-torn country to come to the US. Doueiri studied film at the University of San Diego and UCLA, and soon found himself, quite by accident, working as 1st assistant cameraperson on Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs." He has since worked in some capacity on the camera unit of all of Q.T.'s films. But what he really wanted to do was direct. The desire compelled him to travel back to Lebanon where he shot "West Beirut," a semi-autobiographical tale with endearing adolescent performances reminiscent of Fran¨ois Truffaut's "400 Blows" and a beautiful lensing of Beirut's urban landscapes as the teenagers' playground. The film has garnered favorable reviews, prestigious fest spots, the International Critic's Prize at last year's Toronto Film Festival and is opening this Friday in the U.S. via Cowboy Booking International. Doueiri spoke to indieWIRE about his rise from Tarantino's camera operator to full-fledged director, breaking into the industry, and just paying the rent.

indieWIRE: So what's it been like working with Quentin Tarantino?

Ziad Doueiri: Look, my work with him is, how can I say it, working on any film you always learn something, you learn the movie making procedures. It's sometimes a tedious and boring job. And whether you're working on a Tarantino film or a Roger Corman film, it's kind of the same procedure, I swear. It's tedious, it's resolving problems. However, I learned from him as much as I learned from working with lousy directors. Because when you work with bad directors you learn what not to do. Like when you see directors sitting behind the monitor from morning to night, directing from behind the monitor 20 feet away; he just yells the shot and says, "Baby, feel the scene, I want you to feel the scene." [Laughs] I worked with a guy who would literally say, "I want you to feel the scene. Give it your best shot." So you learn from these people not to sit behind the monitor. You need to be interactive, and need to be there in front of the actors and watch them.

What I like about working him probably the most is that [Tarantino] puts the actors at ease. They like him, a lot. He jokes with them, they joke with him, he's very light, there's not this seriousness. I've worked with directors who over-intellectualize the scene; he's always light and he's always getting the best out of his actors because of that. And having a light attitude. I went back home and said to myself it's important that I don't direct the actors, but more talk to them. And to create a relaxed atmosphere, that's what I can tell you.

iW: You've worked in many areas of film production before making your first movie. How did that help you approach your first movie?

Doueiri: I did everything, art decoration, I pushed dolly for six months, I used to paint sets even. Some people jump very quickly to filmmaking, right out college, or they just get an idea and they go with it. I didn't do that. I'm not saying it's the right way, believe me, I question myself a lot, "Did I have to wait that long, 8-9 years before I made my own thing?" Some people who have no experience on the set, none whatsoever, and they make it, their film comes out and they're very hip -- it happens. I had a crisis a few years ago, thinking, "Why did I have to go up the stairs like that, why did I have to learn about colors, composition, editing, when I know people who just come out of college who snap and they're on?" They just need to hire the right people, a good D.P., a good editor, a good set designer, and they just concentrate on their script and their actors. I used to believe the other way, if you want to become a good director, you have to learn as much as possible. After years, I think, maybe I missed the point.

iW: So what's the verdict?

Doueiri: I'm fucked. I feel bad about it.

iW: But there's something to be said about learning from your experiences. Frankly, I haven't seen that many people right out of film school with quality movies. For instance, in "West Beirut," the characters you have -- these two boys -- are so great. Depicting their lives so well must have come from a lot of life experience.

Doueiri: Most of the script came from characters that I was familiar with. Like Omar, is a little bit like my best friend, but it's also like my cousin, Soha, who used to beat us all the time. If we spilled the coffee, she'd beat us. She had long hands. And I put some of her words and insults and put them into Omar's character. And when the boys are peeping toms, that's from another friend of mine, who had a very, hot sexy aunt, and her name was Leila and we used to fantasize about her.

iW: There's the scene of the two boys on the bed listening to disco and fantasizing about women, that's very funny. . .

Doueiri: Americans reacted better to that scene than the Lebanese themselves. Because it's a little bit like "Saturday Night Fever," it's these little cinematic details that Americans understand better. It's American culture. Which was very relevant in Lebanon. It's funny how much America can influence countries just by their pop culture. You can do a lot more with pop culture than dropping Patriot missiles. You can get away with so much more. Because it's just so appealing. How many girlfriends I lost because of John Travolta, because the girls were looking for a guy who could dance like Travolta? It's amazing how much we were infiltrated with no resistance. "Saturday Night Fever," "Star Wars," it's like we were living parallel. We were going through social changes in Beirut at the same time.

iW: Were there other movies that you looked at to help you make "West Beirut"?

Doueiri: "Beirut, Beirut." It's an unknown [Lebanese] film. I looked at it because I wanted to see how they were wearing clothes in the 70's, the bellbottoms, and long sideburns. The film was released one week before the actual war started. I actually saw "Hope and Glory" [directed by John Boorman] as I finished the first draft of the script. I had a huge depression because I thought people would be thinking that I'm imitating this film.

iW: So are you finding it easier to break into the industry after succeeding with this first film?

Doueiri: I have been called a lot. Meetings mean shit, but I have been called to 20th Century Fox twice. I met two times with people at Miramax. People come to you now and they say, "We saw your film and we're interested in what you have next." They don't ask me if I have an agent anymore, if I give them a script, they're not going to tell me, "We don't read unsolicited scripts." That's how "West Beirut" helped me. It helped just to make the next project easier to read and get financed. It's not like it's making my bank account bigger, at all. It's just certain people heard about it in the studios were interested and contacted me. That helps. Because you feel like you don't want to suffer another 4 years of your life. At least somebody will read it.

iW: Any agencies call you?

Doueiri: Two. ICM and APA. But you know agents are like parasites. I'm a little bit cynical.

iW: I heard the film was doing very well in London. Why do you think it did well?

Doueiri: Because I think the Anglo-culture is probably the most further removed from the Middle East. When you go to France, Spain or Greece, everybody, to a certain degree, is familiar with Middle East issues, and there is a lot of Middle Eastern population in those countries. But when you go to England and the US, there is a Middle Eastern population, but it's very subdued, they don't talk, and plus, they have a bad reputation. Terrorism. I knew that it would do better in Spain, France, these countries, but what actually is happening, is that it's doing better in London than in France. Why? I think when there's a culture that doesn't know a lot about another or has a lot of cliches, stereotypes, misconceptions, and something well reviewed comes along, then a human being wants to check it out, thinking maybe they're not so bad, after all. So it becomes a curiosity. If it happens in the US, then my theory will be correct.

iW: I think it will. But if it doesn't, will you go back to working on crews?

Doueiri: I am. Because I need the money. This film doesn't earn me money, at all. I took a job last month doing a Snickers bar commercial. I have to pay my rent. And I'm doing a commercial next week for two days in New York [to be directed by Wes Anderson] just to keep up with my expenses. Two or three days a month is okay. It's unfortunate, because you think you've gone through a lot of hard times, things should be easier. People should offer you a commercial to direct or whatever it is. But there is no shame in working, so I don't feel guilty. But it's like this commercial I was doing, the entire crew came from London. And we were laying out the shot and the camera. And the director says, "Guys, by the way, I saw this great movie called 'West Beirut'" And the D.P. turns to him, pointing to me and says, "That's the director." And he says, "Oh right." And the D.P. said, "I swear, that's the director." And then the director, he comes to me, and his whole demeanor is changed throughout the commercial. I swear to you, he says, "Do you think we could put the camera here?" And I'm like, "Yeah, we can put the camera there."