Closing TIFF.24, Sirât by Oliver Laxe premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 2025. I sat down with Nadia Acimi (artistic collaborator, casting director, costume designer) and Jade Oukid (actress) to talk about the making of the film, its significance for the rave community and karmic events.
First of all, welcome to the festival! Is it your first time in Romania?
J: Yes. I never came to Romania, but I’ve always wanted to, because I saw the movie Gadjo dilo (n.r. translated from romani, The Crazy Stranger, filmed in Romania) and I fell in love with the music, with the Roma people.
N: This is my second time. I travelled a few years ago for some festivals. It was like 12 years ago. I think something like that. And I only went in the rural area. I didn’t come to the town.
Nadia, you’ve worked in the past with Oliver Laxe. What can you tell us about your collaboration? How did it start? How did it evolve over time?
I met him in the desert of Morocco 14 years ago. I traveled there with my kids, and he was in the house. We met and afterwards he proposed to me to make the costumes of Mimosa. I had no experience in cinema at that moment. But I was already a designer of clothes. After this movie, we started to speak about a project with the underground people because I was also from this community. I grew up part of my life in an alternative way. He was already thinking of maybe one day making a movie about truck life and this was our life. He made the connection, and he had the sensitivity to see what I tried to show him. He loved it. And it’s a long process of doing parties with the people, him starting to write the story with Santiago (n.r. Fillol) and afterwards getting the producer and finances and deciding to make this project, to share it with the real people. The techno people had very much courage to bring this to them. In France they are attacked by politics, by police, it is not easy to keep this alive. But it’s necessary, as was the hippie culture, as are these kinds of youth minorities. It’s necessary. It’s like a counterbalance of the system and it was important for us to share it with the people. To have the force and courage to make it come to life.
How was the casting process?
N: They asked me to make the casting because I was like the Trojan Horse.
J: She opened the door to enter this community.
N: To make the casting they rented me a car, and I had to go to three countries: Spain, France and Portugal. I also had to convince (n.r. the people from the rave community) to trust the crew and join this project because they are against the philosophy cinema star system, they are the opposed to it and they do not believe in it.
So, it was a hard task.
N: Yes, to make them understand it’s something deep and it will not be about making fiction to judge them. The real deep theme of the movie at the end is not about that. After I made the casting and I connected the cast with the cinema world and we had embroidered trust and everyone was open, the work on the costume started.
Jade, how did you get involved in this project?
J: I decided to go to Portugal. It was the first time that I went to the country just to make a techno festival. Normally I travel a lot. And so, I went to this festival. I don’t know why, because I said to myself, „I don’t know if I want to go”. But something said to me, “you have to go”. And I think it was the second or the first day of the festival…
N: Second. Because you first were crazy with the police and everything. A long story.
J: So that day I was walking with my friend and two girls came to me to say: can we speak to you?
N: It’s not exactly like that from my perspective. For me it was more of an intuition. It’s something karmic. Because I was working here with the team and she was working across the street with her team, and I absolutely didn’t see her. I just passed and she passed. My eyes just met her eyes. It was something intuitive with these big eyes she has. And I say: Stop. I want to see this girl. Wow, she has character.
J: Also, for me it was instinctive, because many people had already asked me to take part in different projects. Not a cinema project, but short films, photoshoots, and I always said „no”.
N: And she told me that.
J: At first, I said „no”. But I felt a deep connection with Nadia, because she’s like a sister from a past life. And she is really persuasive. And I felt that I have to see more.
Did you already have the story for the film?
N: Yes, it’s eight years of my life. I already had the story and the script. And I had to find the people to go with the characters.
J: She presented the concept to me. The mission. And then two days later she found me again among 8000 people and she introduced me to Oliver. Then I connected with them spiritually.
Jade had to leave for a photoshoot.
Did the members of the cast know each other beforehand, being part of the same community?
No. More or less. In this community we are all cousins and brothers. We always know the same people. But it was not directly. I found Jade like that. I think in this movie there are a lot of karmic stories. That’s also how I found Tonin – he’s the big guy with one leg. It’s a funny story because I was also for the casting at another party in Portugal, and I saw another man and I wanted to cast him, to explain him the project. And he said „yeah, your story is my life”. And he explained me: well, I bought trucks before and brought them to Mali, Senegal, and I had a f****** crazy accident. I almost died with my best friend. He showed me his leg, and it was like sharks ate his leg. I took him to the casting, and he was interested, but again, we didn’t take him. For a long time, he was in the favorite one. Few months later, I was in France for a big, big party. 8000 people as well. I was in the middle of so many people and maybe 200 meters from me, I see the back of a big guy. It was also like an intuitive frequency. My eyes caught him. But I didn’t see his face. I see his allure and I get down my eyes and I see „wow, he has one leg”. Because he had a good presence by the back and he was attracting me. I went to see him, and he turned, and he was Tonin with this super beautiful face and energy. I explained to him the project, the casting. We went to get a drink before I explained everything because I had to put a lot of energy into every person I cast. Because it’s not like I cast, and they say yes. No, no. They are not so open. Also, for the crew work, like I told you. And he started to explain it to me. „Ohh, that’s my life. In the past I bought a truck and went to Mali with it, and I had this f****** bad accident with my best friend, and this is why I lost my leg.” Come on. I heard this story already. You understand?
Yes, it’s the same story.
Yeah, I cast in two different countries, at a few months difference, the two friends from the same accident. He became the favorite and he’s in the movie now. Also, Bigui, who has one hand, was a friend of mine for a long time and Oliver was in touch with him because he has this Peter Pan Energy. He was in the first version of the script, but at the start there was no explosion. Then Oliver sent me a new version of the script, and I read it, I promise you, it’s crazy. I read the script, the new one where Biggie explodes. In a few days, like three-four days later, Biggie was in the manifestation of the Yellow Jackets in Paris and the police attacked them and he took a grenade and *bang* his arm exploded. I call Oliver: Oliver, do you know what happened? Well, it’s so crazy.
Yes, I got chills.
In the same moment, do you understand? So crazy and… I feel in this movie a lot of karmic energy, like the meeting between me and Oliver. It’s something anachronic almost. In the desert of Morocco, I met this marginal filmmaker fragile and sensitive, and he made me this girl. This unusual woman and artist I am. Then this project happened and all these stories I just told you now and many others I can’t explain.
Yes, it’s almost like it was meant to be. So, for our last question. It’s such a layered film, you touch a lot of subjects. What do you hope the audience will take with them after they watch it?
For myself, I feel this movie is like a mission, because cinema has a powerful way to reach society and open doors that are not easy to open. Because we are in this kind of social psychology, if something is validated, people say „OK, it’s validated. I look, I hear, and it comes down to my judgment.” For this movie to go to Cannes and to receive this prize, it makes people watch it and open their spirit and heart to receive something. I think if it was not showed in Cannes to receive the validation of the Code of the Society, people wouldn’t open their mind at these kinds of subjects, like underground people, with disabilities, Islam energy, this techno music.
All the subjects considered taboos.
This is why for me it was a mission. These three cases I just told you about are really rejected people. I think this is a karmic movie, because it had to happen. It had the power of Oliver to bring it to a festival at this level. To touch these not at all easy and sensitive and fragile subjects. What I want is just to make people realize at the end that besides our form, besides our genetic code, we are one. We are in the same way in this life. At the end, we are…
We’re all on the same train as the film shows.
Exactly, at the end we are all refugees in this world. With our beauty and sensitivity. It’s also the story of the movie between the father and these people. I think they are so different. But at the end, they are the same tribe. Their hearts connected. It was touching in Cannes to see that we accomplished the mission, because I saw many people never want to listen to techno or are judgmental towards underground people. It was really touching.
Thank you very much.