Ahead of the nominations for this year’s Academy Awards, we got to speak with a highly talented young director about his powerful short film. This project is written and directed by Murad Abu Eisheh (who is in his third year of film school) who was inspired to write Tala’vision after he came across an article about ISIS banning televisions in Syria 2014. The film highlights Tala’s struggle trying to live her childhood in a war zone. This heart-wrenching film won the Gold Student Academy Award, thus qualifying it to be considered for a 2022 Oscar.
The Jordanian director earned his bachelor’s degree in Visual Communications and Design with a focus on filmmaking from the German Jordanian University in 2014 in Amman, Jordan and went on to study directing at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Murad is drawn to fictionalize and portray stories out of the war-torn Arab countries.
In our interview, we got amazing insight on the production which focused on casting, the strength of the editing and the brilliance of the production design. The most significant part of this whole project is working with and earning the trust of child actress Aesha Balasem to bring this whole film to life. So enjoy our time with Murad and keep an eye out for him in the future – he’s got a lot to offer the world.
Trapped in a war ridden reality, 8-year-old Tala finds solace and freedom in a forbidden television. However, the secret TV becomes a matter of life or death.
