Rafi El Watik
2024
France
French
fiction
drama
20 minutes
Haunted by the desire to do good, a military doctor, Sabrina, repatriated to France after an injury, struggles with physical pain and emotional isolation. As she becomes obsessed with her past accomplishments, her reclusive life takes a dark turn, blurring the line between heroism and obsession.
Sabrina | Nailia Harzoune
The brother | Yanis Skouta
The mother | Fatima Adoum
Sister-in-law | Charlotte Deniel
Seller | Pierre Santino
First Doctor | Sophie Braem Vasco
Second Doctor | Mohamed Ben Salem
Third Doctor | Annabel Drago
Women with the umbrella | Pascale Roy
1st Assistant Director | Candice Mechaly
2nd Assistant Director | Salomé Saint Martin & Sophie Braem Vasco
Script | Samuel Simonian
Location Manager | Sébastien Zavatoni
Production Designer Costume | Nayla Valigny
Director of photography | Louis Sechaud
1st Camera Assistant | Vincent Duverger
2nd Camera Assistant | Adèle Bouvier
Gaffers | Miguel Fernandez & Julien Rabia
Editor | Lilian Normand
Colorist | Hadrian Kalmbach
Machine Operator | Edouard Bordier
Machine Operator Crane | Karim Oudina
Sound Engineer | Morgan Peyrot
Boom Operator | Charles Gregoire
FX Supervisor | Pierre Santino & Laurent Sala & Rayane Abla
Sound Post-Production | Dadson
Chief Sound Editor | Victor Pierre
Sound Editor | Clara Lemière
Sound Editor | Quentin Blic
Sound Mixing | Victor Pierre
Music Composer | Aniss Amakuno Belkaidi
Musician | Malek Jorio
Voice | Marianne Asseily
International Film Festival of Lanzarote | International Competition
Palm Springs International ShortFest | Beneaht the surface
Born in Marseille, Rafi El Watik has always been fascinated by Art as a means of expression. Initially, he was passioned by painting and music. During his teenage years, cinema started to be his passion. He considered that this discipline was at the crossroads of all the arts that he liked. In order to perfect his technique and his knowledge he integrated a film school.
After graduating from the EICAR in Paris, he started working in television production where he participated in the production and filming of several documentaries. These first steps allowed him to sharpen his eye and to bring his work towards a more aesthetic approach.
In 2017, in parallel of directing fashion and music video, Rafi El Watik has written his first short film Guerre Chaude (Shellshock).
With his desire to film the ordinary in an extraordinary context, Rafi wanted to question the treatment of Good and Evil and how the mechanism of the "pyromaniac firefighter" could be approached in cinema.
In 2022, after five years of research and work, Rafi El Watik has financed, produced and directed Shellshock.
Rafi had the will to tell the story of a repatriated military doctor who is trying to regain control of her life, and who is struggling with her war traumas. It's a film about invisible disabilities and how they can take over and rule our lives.
With a strong mastery of direction, SHELLSHOCK humbly portrays post-traumatic stress. The character of Sabrina has integrated, joined the army and found meaning in her life as a war hero as an army doctor. But she lost everything. Rafi El Watik succeeds in sharing with us the pain of losing what we thought made sense.
