“The winning horse” .. a phrase that always refers to the sudden victory within the “competition arena” by breaking the barrier of expectations, which was achieved by the movie “Day 13”, which became the leader in the daily revenues of Eid Al-Fitr films. Many factors supported its success, most notably that it is the first An Arab feature film using “3D” technology in Egypt and the Middle East, which was prepared and prepared over a period of two years, “made on a quiet fire,” other than that it includes a number of stars.
Ahmed Dawoud, the hero of “Day 13”, presented a number of difficult and humane scenes during the film, which he could not reveal at the present time because he did not “burn” the events. He introduced him to the world of acting.. Great joy and great enthusiasm adorned the layers of his voice during his dialogue with “Al-Watan” and his assertion that success “does not churn”, but serves as a driving force to be the best in everything that is to come.
“Success does not suffocate me, but it makes me more happy.” We were too late to experience the “3D”
Did you expect the movie “Day 13” to succeed at the revenue level?
Frankly, I was very excited about it, and I was hoping for it, and thank God it really happened, but with regard to expectations, I think in cinema no one can predict the audience’s choices, preferences, and tastes at this moment, and all you have is to strive and do all your effort and work, Until success is achieved, and praise be to God, “Day 13” achieved very good revenues.
Honestly.. Have you “came through” from this success and the wide resonance that the film achieved?
– “You didn’t lose,” but I was very happy with the success, and this good echo makes you encourage and think better about your next project. Success prompts you to think about targeting another success. “Success does not make you happy, but it makes you more happy.”
And why did you choose to participate in “Day 13” in particular, especially since it is classified as a horror movie?
It is an action movie more than a horror movie, and the audience has a desire to know what is happening, in addition to being the first 3D movie, and therefore it is something new and different. The film was born large and was well executed by the “Oscar” company, producer Wael Abdullah and Louay Abdullah, and the work team includes a group of great and important stars, all of which are factors that make you participate in this film immediately, but when you decide to release “Day 13” in the cinema in conjunction with Eid Al-Fitr This point made me feel a little anxious, and in the end people go to “the sweet need.”
How did you draw the features of the “Ezzedine” character that you embodied, after reading the script of the film?
– I worked on many details related to “Ezzedine”, but I cannot reveal them now so as not to cause partial “burning” and important scenes in the film, and what I can say now is to work on the character like the rest of the roles that I played, focusing on honesty in performance. And to be very real.
Preparations for the movie took a long time.
– I started this movie after I finished my participation in the movie “122” directly in 2019. Filming “Day 13” was completed in March 2020, after which the Corona pandemic occurred, and then the cinema was not for two years as required, and at that time the work was also done. On the “3D” technology, until the show date comes in 2023.
“Day 13” is full of difficult scenes, but which scenes were the most difficult for you?
He laughs: All of them were difficult scenes, but “I will not be able to say anything now.. I do not want to spoil the events.” Especially at the end of the film, all the scenes were full of difficulty, and there was a study of the character and standing on all the details related to it, and that I do everything that I can. I can and am able to do it during filming, and it is your “sweet luck” that you have a distinguished director who “understands the film well, does not implement scenes and salvation”, and thus gives you a great opportunity to act well and better.
I am preparing for another movie, I will not reveal its details, but we will present a different work
The movie is exciting, suspenseful and terrifying as well.. Do you really feel afraid?
– “I can go into labor, but I am not afraid.
Was the film a challenge and a risk from you, especially since there are experiences of “horror and suspense” that were not successful, and were received sarcastically by the audience, particularly from the new generations?
Of course it was a challenge, but it was a step that must be taken. The idea of moving to the world of 3D is a step that we were very late in, as well as respecting people and presenting good and different artwork that is “troubled” because in the cinema, if you respect the audience, I will respect you in return by watching your movie. And enjoying it, and the works that you mentioned in your question that they were not accepted by the audience, may be due to laziness, or lack of respect for the audience’s mentality in what is presented by “the scenes are not fools” and logic is not only in horror films, but in any film that is presented regardless of the genre. For example, if you present a comedy movie easily, without any obvious effort, “no one will put it in the cinema.”
Before expressing your agreement to star in the movie on the 13th, did you have conversations or discussions with certain people?
– In addition to the strong script, I spoke with the production company and the director, and they are great names that always reassure you. There are works of art, as soon as you know the names of their makers, your heart is reassured and you feel that you will really present a distinguished work, and on the contrary, there are other works that you feel from the beginning that you will not be successful because of who you work with. .
Is the measure of the success of any movie for you based on the amount of revenue only, or are there other factors as well?
The most important thing is the revenues, and anyone who tells you otherwise is not right. Of course there are technicalities in the film that we discuss positively and negatively, but if the film is great and does not achieve revenues, the producer will definitely stop and not think of cooperating with the same hero again. Cinema is an industry first and foremost, it remains. It must at least have good revenues in order for the product to be encouraged again. I would not have presented “Day 13” in this format and with a huge production, unless the movie that preceded it, which is “122”, had achieved great revenues, and therefore a bigger movie would be made for you, and after the success of “Day 13”, the producer would be ready to present a larger work, for example. For example, because as I said, it is an industry that cannot lose and repeat the loss.
When you watched the movie, which has been two years since it was shot, do you feel, after your experience has increased, that you could have presented it in another way?
– Not at all. Every need in its time is the most suitable time for it, and it is possible that if you did this work now it would not come out in this good way, and therefore the time you work with depends on the extent of your energy and enthusiasm for the project in its timing, and it is permissible if you were offered “Day 13”. In the same circumstances, you may consider presenting art of another kind, and so “every need in its time is better.”
I care about my young son’s opinion, and I was happy to “shake” him from some scenes in the movie and the audience’s choices that no one can predict.
And what about the family, your wife, the artist Ola Roushdy, and the children?
– I was traveling, and when I came back we went to watch the movie, and they were “very happy.” My little son, Adam, “I care about his opinion very much, because all the time he doesn’t like what he sees on TV. Believe it and get rid of it..and this made me happy.
At home, are there no attempts to exploit the horror in the film, and there will be “movements of intimidation” among you?
– He laughs: No, we didn’t do that, the world is normal, the fear was only when watching the movie, but at home, the world is fine.
After this great success of the movie “Day 13”, what about the new that the coming period is preparing for?
The next is another movie, but I will not reveal any details related to it in the current period.
Does the success of “Day 13” make it difficult for you to choose your next project?
– It is not difficult, but you must present something good and a different work. In any case, choosing any work will be difficult, “whether you succeed or not,” and it is not an easy matter. I hope that God will help me and choose a good movie.
Feedback and praises
The reactions were very beautiful, and what I liked most is that the young people liked “Day 13”, although most of them do not watch the “Arab film” as required, and this is reassuring to me, in addition to that the film will continue to be shown in the cinema until the reception of Eid Al-Adha, and then before us A time for more audiences to go to watch it, in addition to the end of the end-of-year exams. “God willing, I am optimistic that the coming period, the film will produce very good revenue numbers.”
