Who is Ziad Doueiri, the director of Coeurs Noirs and Fever for Canal+?
After ‘Black Baron’ and ‘Black Hearts’, Lebanese director Ziad Doueri has had a string of successes and will once again direct ‘La Fever’, a series at the center of a scandal in the world of football.
An employee of Tarantino
Ziad Doueiri was born in Kinshasa, Congo in 1963 before going to the USA to study in the early 1980s. There he stayed for 18 years and took his first steps in the world of cinema for the film alongside Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino a night in hell (1996). From then on, he will begin a fruitful collaboration as Quentin Tarantino’s camera assistant. He worked on his first five films including Jackie Brown, pulp Fiction etc Reservoir Dogs which brought the success and fame of the American director.
A strong and committed work
Shortly thereafter, he began directing, initially as an assistant director for action films such as trap on the high seas (1993). He then began writing and directing his first film. West Beyrouth who won numerous awards, including the 1998 François Chalais Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. The film tells the story of two young Muslims who want to make a Super 8 film in Beirut in the middle of the civil war. Ziad Doueiri is known for his social and political commitment, which is reflected in his films. His works often deal with controversial issues such as inter-communal conflicts in Lebanon, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the situation of refugees. West Beyrouth is a poignant and realistic work, this film is already taking it into the big leagues.
Until September 2011, he divided his life between Los Angeles and Beirut. In 2012 he released the feature film The attack, adapted from the novel of the same name by Yasmina Khadra, in which he directs Israeli actors Evgenia Dodina and Ali Suliman. In doing so, he speaks out against the boycott of Israel and defends his decision to shoot a film with Israeli actors in Israel. Finally his 4th film The insult, was featured in the Venice Film Festival Official Selection in 2017 and won the Best Screenplay award. The film recalls the scars of the Lebanese civil war and describes a banal neighborhood dispute that degenerates between a Lebanese Christian and a Palestinian refugee before the media court. The director thus reveals the mutual lack of understanding between two peoples. The film represents Lebanon for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 90se Academy Awards.
A talented filmmaker with a realistic style
Ziad Doueiri uses cinema as a vehicle to raise public awareness of his country’s intercommunal issues, thereby stimulating thought and debate. He is also known for his realistic style, emphasizing characters’ faces and expressions to create an intimacy with the audience. He often uses close-ups and powerful images to evoke surprising emotions. Beyond his political commitment, his films are relevant and universal because they deal with recognition, justice and forgiveness, always with the idea of a possible path to reconciliation.
The success of the series dark baron (2016), slips (2020), and more recently black hearts (2023) placed the 60-year-old director in a privileged position within series production in France. We can’t wait to see his new series, Feveran original creation by Canal + in which we will have the pleasure of seeing Ana Girardot and Benjamin Biolay play against the backdrop of a scandal in the highly acclaimed world of football.
