By Muriel Aboulrouss

Everything I create or teach is based on my  personal experiences and my journey of self discovery. I do not pretend to set new definitions or rules as I do not believe in either. I am guided by pure intuitive impulse.  I believe that the road to move people is to provoke change within them. The same way, we do within ourselves. We need to create a genuine feeling and authentic need of self expression.  This is the sole philosophy of my creative work. 

You see, twenty years ago, I fell in love with the lights,  the motion picture, and creative teamwork. I was mesmerized by the magic of film. Since then, I set out to search for what makes my soul vibrate and what triggers my senses and imagination.It  took me twenty years to break down my inner creative process which eventually led to the birth of Cine-Jam.

 Cine-Jam is a cinematic film lab that aims to reconnect you, your intuitive creative capacity, with your authentic self. Cine-Jam is about jamming with Cinema which means using the audio visual language to transform your emotions into a film  in a way that can reflect your own sensitivity and perception of yourself and of life.

The lab was born in 2012 which led to the birth of my project then Zyara in 2014. I created the visual style of Zyara applying the Cine-Jam process: a process of channeling your artistic value by connecting to your source of inspiration. Whether it is an emotion, a person, a memory or a place.

Eventually these projects led us to establish the Humanitarian Arts association  in 2019. It is now “Home of Cine-Jam” which aims to teach and create from the gut. 

So how do I create?

When I am in the creative process, which is 24 hours a day, I empty my head and allow the universe to channel through me a series of audiovisual elements which would be naturally filtered by my emotions.  These same emotions results in a unique channeling and cinematic expressions. Hence, I see Cine-Jam as a reflection to my perception of why creativity is a must and why art is needed to heal us which eventually helps us heal the world. 

Art is a spiritual act that reconnect us to the creative source we all come from. For me Cine-Jam is a manifestation into a physical form of what I feel when I create, This value exists because I want to teach and explore its existence with all those who feel the need to connect with our source. 

This emptiness has led me to create Zyara, a documentary series which aims to portray people, in a five minutes episode, in a 12 episodes cycle per season. To create these episodes, we first had to outline the concept of the people’s portraits. Once settled, I allowed my impulse to fully dive into the unknown of the process. I applied Cine-Jam technique by just connecting to the individual we are interviewing to be able to filter the audiovisuals and create.

I believe the state of trance that requires self-emptying to adopt the person’s energy and emotions, while we are filming, is overwhelming. This non planning and non cerebral activity which transforms us into an empty pipe allowing the universal energy to co-create within us in relation to a third person and/or emotion is the most fulfilling and freeing process an artist can ever feel.

Gut in Art

I have the unwavering belief that our uniqueness is only revealed by shutting down the thinking process, hence, allowing our intuition and divine self to do the work. The Cine-Jam film lab has been the ground for the unknown within myself to come out and play while guided by passion and a profound need for self expression, in order to create what I call Gut in Art (G.I.A.).

G.I.A is a three dimensional form, it transforms its creator in the making process to  a spectator by triggering their emotions, hence moving them deeply into action. G.I.A is a process that induce questioning and discomfort. It’s an awakened state of trance state which we can consciously and fully experience without any artificial substance. Any emotion or memory stored in our gut has an intrinsic need to come out and transform.

It is a short, intense, spontaneous and authentic audiovisual experiment which aims to portray a personal emotion through a cinematic language specific to their experience. That unique language is neither an accident nor a technical know how to prove our worthiness. We learn the tools through which we can explore all the technical aspects of cinematic expression but then comes a point where we make it our JOB or our MISSION.

To conclude, I believe that this process can only take place if the person allows themselves to trust and believe in who they are. If they choose to jump into the unknown “genius”  that is within themselves to master their own unique art of authentic self expression.

That’s how I create and that is my process and I want to share it!!!

Muriel Aboulrouss is a cinematographer and director.
Editor’s note: Communicate September print issue is about understanding creativity within the communication field. The opinion expressed in this article belongs to the author.