La diplomatie marocaine nomme vingt-deux nouveaux consuls généraux dans un large redéploiement stratégique    Les pays sahéliens saluent le rôle central du Maroc dans la renaissance de l'Afrique et sa valorisation de la coopération Sud-Sud    Mohamed Abdennabaoui élu président de l'Ahjucaf lors de l'assemblée de Rabat    L'Office national des aéroports réorganise ses pôles en prévision de l'horizon 2030    Industrie : la production atteint un taux d'utilisation de 78 % en mai, selon BAM    Xlinks retire sa demande d'examen du projet Maroc–Royaume-Uni et annonce une réorientation du dispositif    CAN 2024 féminine : La CAF double la prime du vainqueur et augmente les récompenses    Moroccan by-elections see government majority parties dominate    Elecciones parciales: El PAM, RNI e Istiqlal ganan el 64% de los escaños    Rencontre entre le Directeur général de l'ICESCO et l'Ambassadeur de Chine au Maroc pour discuter des préparatifs de la participation à la réunion ministérielle sur le dialogue des civilisations à Pékin    Challenge N°976 : Du 4 au 10 juillet 2025    Jouahri : Les banques participatives ne représentent que 2 % des actifs du secteur bancaire marocain    «Aéroports 2030» : l'ONDA réorganise ses trois pôles majeurs    Sahara marocain : Le Guatemala considère l'initiative d'autonomie comme "l'unique base sérieuse, crédible et réaliste pour la résolution du différend" régional    Football féminin : Une terre, un rêve, un sacre.. Le Maroc joue sa CAN    Réorganisation du Conseil national de la presse : Ce qu'il faut retenir du texte adopté par le gouvernement    MAE : nomination de 22 nouveaux Consuls Généraux    Assises de l'IA : Un premier pas, des attentes immenses    Les secteurs porteurs en Côte d'Ivoire : quelles opportunités pour une entreprise marocaine ?    Fouzi Lekjaa intronise Achraf Hakimi en Leader des Lions de l'Atlas    Coopération Maroc-Espagne-France : 15 tonnes de cannabis saisies    La Renaissance de Ziyech passera-t-elle par Florence ?    Spain : Sumar pressures PSOE over coalition pact, avoids Western Sahara dispute    Elections partielles : Le PAM, RNI et Istiqlal remportent 64% des sièges    Solidarité à Khénifra : le ministère de la Santé prend en charge le traitement de Firdaws Bousarfan    ISIDERM et ISDIN s'unissent pour promouvoir l'éducation sur la protection solaire au Maroc    Algérie : L'historien Amine Belghit condamné à 5 ans de prison    Casablanca : 4 personnalités décorées chevalières de l'Ordre des arts et des lettres par la France    Un homme interrompt le trafic du tramway à Casablanca en s'allongeant nu sur la voie    Six personnes interpellées à Fès après une rixe nocturne à l'arme blanche    Essaouira accueille la 2ème étape du Championnat du Maroc de Kitesurf Strapless    L'historien algérien Mohamed Lamine Belghit condamné à cinq ans de prison au terme d'un procès expéditif pour «atteinte à l'unité nationale»    Biens culturels. La Côte d'Ivoire et la Suisse s'accordent    Tanger : Le caftan marocain brille lors de la Luxury Network Morocco    Rabat : L'OPM organise une semaine de concerts gratuits pour célébrer la musique classique    L'ADN d'un Egyptien de l'Ancien Empire révèle des origines marocaines et mésopotamiennes    Le ministère de la culture soutient 379 projets d'édition et du livre pour plus de onze millions de dirhams en 2025    L'Atalanta et l'OM se disputent les faveurs de Nayef Aguerd    Le Maroc à l'épreuve d'un risque climatique devenu structurel    Real Madrid : En manque de temps de jeu, Brahim Diaz inquiète    Chicago : 4 morts et 14 blessés dans une fusillade de masse    Inwi lance la campagne #Lbess_touni pour soutenir les Lionnes de l'Atlas    Algérie : Le FMI alerte sur l'urgence d'un ajustement économique    Le président de la Fédération kabyle de football écrit : Quand une interview devient un chef d'accusation de terrorisme en Algérie    L'attaquant portugais Diogo Jota et son frère meurent dans un accident de la route en Espagne    Energie propre : L'UE investit 3,66 milliards d'euros pour aider les Etats membres à faible revenu    La ville marocaine de Chefchaouen renaît en Chine : une réplique fidèle de la ville bleue au cœur de Harbin    La finale de la Coupe du monde des clubs pourrait se jouer à 9h du matin    







Merci d'avoir signalé!
Cette image sera automatiquement bloquée après qu'elle soit signalée par plusieurs personnes.



Diaspo #321 : Mehdi Bennani, representing Moroccan culture through production design
Publié dans Yabiladi le 13 - 01 - 2024

Mehdi Bennani is helping build and design sets for movies and commercials in Hollywood. The Casablanca-native wants to help make Moroccans, Muslims and Arabs feel represented in films through his passion, production design.
When Mehdi Bennani first set foot in the United States, he wanted to become an architect. Freshly graduating from Casablanca's French high school, Lycée Lyautey, he joined his brother in Los Angeles as a cost-effective measure for their parents who valued American education.
Once in LA, in 2011, Mehdi decided to enroll in a foundation program, going to the same institution as his brother, the Santa Monica College. At the California public community college, he took a preparatory program to later get into architecture.
Later, the Casablanca-native joined the University of Southern California (USC), where his love for the film industry would start. Mehdi majored in architecture, honoring the promise he had made before leaving his home country Morocco.
«USC had a very good architecture school. I was able to transfer to that school, where I did two years of studio work, during which you draw and work on computer programs related to architecture», the LA-based Moroccan told Yabiladi over the phone.
Contrary to his own expectations, he did not like the major as much as he anticipated. Mehdi wanted to be more creative and, during his two first years in architecture school, he realized it was not the path he wanted to follow.
From architecture to production design
What really spoke to the young student was film. Production design especially, a fusion of art, architecture, and narrative, expressed through space, lines, shapes, colors, and patterns, to create a powerful visual language for enriching on-screen stories. One of the pillars of the film industry, in addition to cinematography, scriptwriting and directing.
Mehdi switched his architecture five-year program to a four-year one, obtaining a bachelor's in architecture instead of becoming a full-fledged architect. «This degree will allow me to become a professor in architecture but not an architect. For me to become an architect I needed to finish the five-year program which I did not want to do», he explained.
What Mehdi wanted really to do was to know more about this new field, production design. «I did not even know it existed, I had no idea it was a profession or a career», Mehdi recalled. «There was only one class at USC that offered production design. I have always been passionate about film, and it was basically like finding something that connected both my passion for film and the skills that I had learned in architecture school», he proudly remembered.
Right after completing his architecture bachelor, Mehdi started looking for jobs in production design. To learn more about the field and gain experience, he started taking small gigs, such as working as production assistant on a music video.
Later, Mehdi was given the role of a production designer for a student film. He was expected to design a set and understand how the director wanted the different shooting locations to look like. «I did not have any experience and they just gave me the job. But honestly, it really made me want to learn more and become better. I had such a good time, and I was so happy doing that job and I knew exactly that this was the right path for me», he recalled.
After working in the sets of different short movies and student films, Mehdi decided to start a degree in production design. He applied for the American Film Institute and went on to pursue a master's degree in production design.
«The first year was during Covid, everything was online. I learned more about production design as a career, what to do and how to do it, drawing and making plans», Mehdi explained. During his studies, architecture knowledge came in handy. «All of the things that I have learned in architecture came back to help me. All the skills that I had learned. It was nice to be able to put everything together and follow this career path», he said.
Building sets in Hollywood
In 2022, Mehdi graduated and started working on different projects as both a production designer and an art director.
«The production designer is the head of the art department, which is in charge of everything that you see around the actors, everything that they touch. For example, if you are filming in a house, everything that you see inside of that house is from the art department», Mehdi enthusiastically explained.
Gladiator, for example, Mehdi's favorite movie, is an excellent example of what an art department, under the guidance of a production designer can do. «They had to create all of the background from scratch to show that we are in Rome, during the Roman Empire, we are in a coliseum. The Coliseum is very old and not fully restored, so you must have the art department recreate and build a set that looks like it», he added.
As for the art director, they are second in command in an art department. «The production designer gives references and images or sketches of things that the art department can do», the art director is then in charge of communicating it to the rest of the art department team.
Mehdi worked as a production designer for a short movie titled «In Wonderland». The movie, which was also his thesis project, tells the story of a Mexican eight-year-old little girl who crossed the border to the USA. Once in America her dad died, and she became stuck in the country.
The movie was screened in several local festivals and won prizes. «It's a nice heart-felt story about emigration through the eyes of a little girl. During the Trump presidency there were a lot of kids who were separated from their parents while they were applying for asylum and that is something that pushed us to show this story and how difficult it is for a child to go through emigration», the young man explained.
In addition to short movies, Mehdi worked on several commercials, art directing and set dressing. One of them required transforming an Irish bar into an Australian one, while shooting in LA.
Better representing Morocco
Currently, Mehdi is working on another short movie. The film is set in a small-town mosque, that he must help design and set up from scratch. «We are thinking about renting a community center and turn it into a small-town mosque with all the decorations you can find in a mosque», he explained.
Through his job as a production designer and art director, Mehdi is trying to help better represent Moroccans, Arabs and Muslims in Hollywood. Designing and building sets for movies and films can help break stereotypes on these communities and help people from different backgrounds feel represented, Mehdi believes.
«It is something that I have been fighting against in all of the projects that I have been working on», Mehdi argued. «Now it is very important that all cultures be shown the way they truly are, not just for the movies. People want to see themselves in the movies and feel represented», the young professional regretted.
«It is important to show the human aspect of people all around the world», said Mehdi who hopes to work on bigger projects and make a difference in his field.


Cliquez ici pour lire l'article depuis sa source.