Its director, Wassim Sukkar, told “Al-Sharq al-Awsat”: I portray it in a cinematic language
“Top Chef” director Waseem Sukkar thought that producer Rabie Ramal was testing his nerves on hidden camera pranks, when he told him that the program would be nominated for an International Emmy Award. “It was a shock,” he tells Asharq Al-Awsat, as he attributes the appreciation to MBC, the owner of the production and show. The mere nomination, as a reward for a collective effort, halted the winning of an ally or the formation of other alliances. speak to him.
His pride in the station’s attention to the uniqueness of what is presented, goes beyond being a “cooking programme”. The arrival of “Top Chef” to the world as the first Arab program in the category of “entertainment television programs”, amid nominations confirming the fierceness of the competition, reflects raising the head regarding an innovative model of high-level creative work. Al-Ain will be on November 21 next, the date for announcing the result in New York. Please do not hide the warmth of applause from those who deserve it following six seasons.
Wassim Sukkar utters a word of truth: “The program is Arabic, produced by Saudi Arabia and shown on its screen. His team is multinational, although Lebanese are predominated. Efforts are also from Egypt, Jordan and Syria… The director is Lebanese. The global moment in a group visit; And victory, if it happens, belongs to all Arabs.”
He transfers his specialization in the cinematic language to his programs, with the difference that “Top Chef” is flying with imagination. In its early days, Lebanon’s conditions did not allow filmmakers to reach the stage of realization. The concern was: “We want to work and live,” so he entered the field of television, carrying them to find: “Expression in my cinematic language.” The expression sees it as an “essential part of our profession.” What is presented is not just an image, but a dimension and reductionism.
Accompany the first step in a journey that continues to today with its sixth season. At that time, the Lebanese station, LBC, anchored the first two seasons, before the boat moved to the MBC sailors. Wassim Sukkar had finished “Arab Idol,” so he devoted himself to a cooking program that, before simulating the stomach, was intended to provoke the imagination. He filled in the gaps of the two seasons and watched for mistakes, while the Saudi network provided an opportunity for a jolt to raise his rank. He had in mind words he said, yearning for the best: “I felt that necessary changes were necessary. Taking responsibility for a program of this magnitude puts me in front of two possibilities: to go with creativity to the end, or to apologize.”
The station’s confidence made him comfortable with a common plan: “We will dream and fly away.” The Lebanese director prefers that his works speak what is known regarding him. All he says regarding himself is that he “breaks his head” to generate a project that makes him feel satisfied. He refuses to associate television with indulgence. “We present naive content and a fleeting image on the pretext that the audience watches everything. Work without its dimensions and advantages, I removed it from the list.”
Think of “Top Chef” as a “drama” rather than a show regarding chefs vying for a title. With a cinematic passion, he is behind the cameras of one of the most inspirational programs on Arab screens. Whenever it was a season, creative fantasies, the aesthetics of the image and the staff, the challenges of intelligence and quick wit accompanied him to the homes. A mix led by a director who doesn’t miss giving back to the team under the nurturing shadow of TV.
Directing it does not mean “Arab Idol” and “You Men”; Between them, “Top Chef” and the new “MBC”, “Gnellie Baljo”, the inside is enough. He only satiates, but stares for more as much as the artist. “I am the group of these experiences,” Wassim Sukkar says, adding to them his short film “Beirut 6:07” regarding the Mirfa murderers. He was also nominated last year in the short films category at the Emmy Awards, so his director is testing the taste of wide success for the second time.
He demands the maximum potential of those who share the television footprint industry; “Sometimes the limit of the rising of the soul,” he admits. But, doesn’t he think, like directors, of migrating to mini-series? For him, this is not important, as long as the director is able to test all his “weapons” in his field: “My concern is to deliver what I want, whether through programs or drama and cinema. My playground is television directing, and I leave it when I feel that it is starting to narrow. Don’t be tempted by the hasty step and believe in timing. The next trend is subject to losses.”
His search continues for new technologies, a different image and a unique color, he says, who describes his life as an endeavor to update knowledge. If he attends a party, he disturbs himself with pleasure by focusing on benefiting from the scene and accumulating revelations: “This is the age of technologies.
“I get into the details”; He declares that he is not a director whose mission ends when the cameras are installed and the snapshot is taken, then thank you and bye bye. It takes him and the team regarding a year to complete the “Top Chef” program to meet the magic stature. Almost a year?! The owner of the lines replied with astonishment. He explains that the preparation requires two months, and the photography as well, so that the montage preys on regarding 6 months of the life of a team that works throughout the year to present the program over a period of 3 intense months with dazzle full of image and content.
He places the aesthetic of the scene at the first place in any business he takes the helm. His influence on cinema makes visuals a tyrant, knowing that he understands the importance of balancing with content. Whether the program is “heavy” or smooth to tame the days; Wassim Sukkar’s secret: “I can only work hard and give my best.”
