Today we’d like to introduce you to Rafael Maman
Hi Rafael, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Born and raised in France, I moved to London after I turned 18 to study business management. Yet, I felt driven by my passion for cinema. After five years of business studies and a multitude of working experiences in finance, I decided to shift my career towards my lifelong passion for filmmaking. I got hired by a France-based international production company called Alef One, where I learnt the ropes of the producing-side and shadowed renowned European director Gilles Bannier. This experience definitely convinced me to go down the directing path, which motivated me to apply to USC. From there on, I moved to Los Angeles in 2021 and got an MFA in Film & TV Production at USC, where I perfected my directing, producing and writing skills, independently making over 20 shorts during my studies. I became a professional independent filmmaker as soon as I got out of school in December 2023, and have been directing and producing independent content in fiction and advertisement over the last year.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There were many struggles along the way, including the cultural barrier of moving to America. Even though I felt like I knew American culture from the film, music, food I had access to in Europe, the reality of it is different. People social and professional interactions are different, especially in LA: they are less frequent but more intense than what I was used to. You have to get accustomed to a more professional way of working and thinking, where every detail is taken into consideration beforehand. Artistically, it can also be daunting at first to introduce your vision and work to people who don’t have the same cultural references as yours. But collaboration, patience and hard work solved every problem I have encountered so far.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a film writer, director and producer, specialised in directing fiction. The tone of my film sets me apart as I like to blend reality and fantastic together, often whit a touch of cynicism to give a different perspective on the world and the way we approach it as a society. This allows me to explore my favourite theme: dreams, where everything is possible, but which can also quickly turn into nightmares.
Of the 15 films I have been directing over the last 3 years, I would say I’m most proud of a film I made with a professional mime artist. The film was set around him to explore the difficulty of remaining passionate for your art when you’re confronted to real life struggles. What makes me so proud about this film is that the mime artist, Karen Zar (the most viewed mime of internet), told me that I completely captured the essence of what made him do what he does. Karen sadly passed away a year after we made the film, and I was very moved to hear from his family that this film meant the world to him and that he kept talking about it over and over, as the final pride of his life. Having such a reaction from a person performing an art that I didn’t know much about before making the film is the thing I couldn’t be prouder of.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
When it comes to cinema, the passion of my life, everything started with my dad. He wasn’t very communicative when I was a kid, and his way to express himself and spend a good time with me would be to show me films. As a great cinephile, he introduced me to all the classics and broadened my horizons showing me all sorts of films. I loved the films, of course, but I think I loved these moments even more. We had a projector at home and I remember precisely the whole ritual of watching these films together: picking the right film for the night at the video store, setting up the living room, the sound of the projector, our assigned seats on the sofa. It was simple but it meant the world to me.
