“The inevitable journey to find a wedding dress”, interview with director Jaylan Auf

At the 16th Bari International Film & Tv Festival, FRED Film Radio interviewed the director Jaylan Auf to talk about “The inevitable journey to find a wedding dress”, a film presented at the Meridiana section.

The Meaning of the Wedding Dress

At the heart of “The inevitable journey to find a wedding dress” is the frantic search for a wedding dress by two young girls. A dress with a strong symbolic value whose meaning can change for a person throughout their life. “Whether it’s in Egypt or elsewhere, wedding dresses have a universal meaning, more or less. For me, it’s evolved from something that’s more of a fairytale understanding of the concept to something more abstract, something like a very simple dream that someone might pursue”, says Jaylan Auf. “And that’s actually the concept behind the film. It’s what the two characters are looking for and even within the film itself the concept of the dress evolves from one point to another”.

A documentary-like approach

Did Jaylan Auf‘s background as a documentary filmmaker influence the making of the film? “Definitely”, says the director. “This film is a completely fictional story, however, it combines different genres together. Initially we talk about the concept of a wedding dress as a fairy tale, however with a very real approach. The approach to the camera itself is documentary-like. It is always very close to the subjects”.

The right to dream

In one sequence of “The inevitable journey to find a wedding dress” the protagonist states that wearing a wedding dress is her right. A sentence that contains a very deep and nuanced meaning. “It is a scene in the film where the fiancé asks her if she really wants this dress. With her head she says no, but with her eyes she says: ‘It is my right’. The scene, first of all, shows that there is love between both of those characters, even if they are very different. And it shows the importance of the journey itself”, explains Jaylan Auf. “Because the journey is not about whether or not she gets the dress or whether or not she wants this particular dress. It’s about the fact that she has the right to dream about something, even if it’s very big or very small. She has the right to dream and to get what she wants. She’s worked very hard in her life and she feels like she wants a win, not necessarily the dress, but a win”.

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