Céline Roustan
Loubna is a line producer on a commercial shoot, where everything appears to be running smoothly – until the lead actor gets terrible news and wants to leave the set. All of a sudden, Loubna has to figure out how to save the day. Caught between the director, the producer and the actor, she will have to making a choice that will define where her priorities lie. With I Don’t Care if the World Collapses, director Karim Shaaban plunges his protagonist into an impossible situation, forcing her to choose between her professional responsibilities and her personal compassion. It’s a decision that could haunt her, revealing just how far she’s willing to go in the name of her work.
Written by screenwriter Wael Hamdy – Shaaban’s frequent collaborator – I Don’t Care if the World Collapses is actually inspired by the director’s own experience on a commercial shoot, where the film’s premise is what really happened to an actor. “He was thrilled, ready to live his life-long dream of being in front of cameras,” Shaaban recalls, “only for that dream to crash when he receives a call from his sister informing him that her husband, his best friend, passed away”.
The filmmaker confessed that what struck him about that situation was “the struggle of coming so close to achieving his dream”. Adding that it made him “realize the weight and responsibility that we bear” and how that contrasts with “enjoying [a] job and surrendering to [a] passion”. Years later, when Shaaban himself faced a similarly impossible situation and his responsibilities prevented him from leaving set, he felt compelled to create I Don’t Care if the World Collapses.
Emad Rashad stars as the actor so close to realizing his dream
Experiencing the story from Loubna’s perspective makes the short all the more compelling, as she finds herself in the middle of this crisis – caught between the different expectations, and having to manage everyone’s feelings, along with her own. This creates a dilemma, that is not only emotionally engaging, but also works to creates a tension that makes the film so gripping. DP Beshoy Rosefelt and editor Ahmed Yousry feed that tension through the framing of the images and the pacing, visually echoing the weight of the responsibilities that lies on Loubna’s shoulders.
Salma Abu Deif delivers a standout performance in the lead role, capturing the quiet intensity of a woman trying to manage and control the events, while processing the subtle violence of what’s at stake. Through the film, she conveys with nuance how her character manages to compartmentalize her emotions in order to keep the production on track – until the final moments, when the audience gets surprised by the twist, and her character silently reckons with the full impact of her choices.
I Don’t Care if the World Collapses made its way around the festival circuit ahead of its online debut with notable stops at the Palm Springs ShortFest and Nashville. Shaaban has since completed production on a feature film, which is currently in post production.