Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Interview with Rakan Mayasi for Yesterday the Eye Didn't Sleep presented at 2026 Cannes Film Festival - Un Certain Regard. Interview conducted by Eric Lavallée for IONCINEMA.com.
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Let us know what you think of Rakan Mayasi's Yesterday the Eye Didn't Sleep - leave your comments below!
Timestamps:
0:10 - Palestine filmmaking is always an act of resistance - I sort have felt that this was a parable of what it feels like to live next to an aggressive neighbor - something you know a thing or two about as someone from Beirut. I want to know about the producer hat wearing Rakan Mayasi thinks about shooting under duress and if it helps creativity?
3:30 - you are always in go mode...
4:15 - Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep resists conventional narrative structure and instead unfolds almost like a sensory observation of a community. What drew you toward this more atmospheric way of storytelling? and having not seen your short film cinema are there connective tissues?
8:22 - Among my favorite sequences is the moment where we first see the wedding dress ..tell me about what you were thinking for this moment
11:30 - The sisters’ fate emerges through everyday routines, silences and seemingly incidental moments rather than dramatic exposition. Were you interested in showing how systems of oppression become normalized through ordinary daily life?
14:58 - Talk to me about insertion of comedy when she is forced to make a decision to only have that choice be deflected...tell me about the construction of that moment.
18:12 - Just from a technical standpoint how difficult was it set it up the geometrical and geographical challenges of the sequence.
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Visit our website: ioncinema.com
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CREDITS
Producers: Rakan Mayasi, Jennifer Ritter.
Executive producer: Darren Strowger.
Director: Rakan Mayasi.
Screenplay: Rakan Mayasi, Wahid Ajmi, Pôl Seif.
Camera: Pôl Seif.
Editor: Louis De Schrijver.
Cast: Rim Al Mawla, Jawaher Al Mawla, Yasser Al Mawla.
IONCINEMA.com is a media outlet featuring daily news, reviews and interviews in American indie, world cinema, documentary film & film festivals. Our motto: We heart subtitles!
Interview with Rakan Mayasi for Yesterday the Eye Didn't Sleep presented at 2026 Cannes Film Festival - Un Certain Regard. Interview conducted by Eric Lavallée for IONCINEMA.com.
Please support us by SUBSCRIBING to our Youtube channel!:
youtube.com/user/ioncinema?sub_confirmation=1
Let us know what you think of Rakan Mayasi's Yesterday the Eye Didn't Sleep - leave your comments below!
Timestamps:
0:10 - Palestine filmmaking is always an act of resistance - I sort have felt that this was a parable of what it feels like to live next to an aggressive neighbor - something you know a thing or two about as someone from Beirut. I want to know about the producer hat wearing Rakan Mayasi thinks about shooting under duress and if it helps creativity?
3:30 - you are always in go mode...
4:15 - Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep resists conventional narrative structure and instead unfolds almost like a sensory observation of a community. What drew you toward this more atmospheric way of storytelling? and having not seen your short film cinema are there connective tissues?
8:22 - Among my favorite sequences is the moment where we first see the wedding dress ..tell me about what you were thinking for this moment
11:30 - The sisters’ fate emerges through everyday routines, silences and seemingly incidental moments rather than dramatic exposition. Were you interested in showing how systems of oppression become normalized through ordinary daily life?
14:58 - Talk to me about insertion of comedy when she is forced to make a decision to only have that choice be deflected...tell me about the construction of that moment.
18:12 - Just from a technical standpoint how difficult was it set it up the geometrical and geographical challenges of the sequence.
CONNECT with IONCINEMA.com
Visit our website: ioncinema.com
Twitter: twitter.com/ioncinema
Facebook: facebook.com/ioncinema
Instagram: instagram.com/ioncinema
CREDITS
Producers: Rakan Mayasi, Jennifer Ritter.
Executive producer: Darren Strowger.
Director: Rakan Mayasi.
Screenplay: Rakan Mayasi, Wahid Ajmi, Pôl Seif.
Camera: Pôl Seif.
Editor: Louis De Schrijver.
Cast: Rim Al Mawla, Jawaher Al Mawla, Yasser Al Mawla.
IONCINEMA.com is a media outlet featuring daily news, reviews and interviews in American indie, world cinema, documentary film & film festivals. Our motto: We heart subtitles!
