Pittsburgh's character comes out in local filmmakers' festival shorts

Oct. 29—When Lily Ragheb of Washington, D.C., and her husband, Ahmed, a native of Cairo, Egypt, moved to Pittsburgh in 2019, they barely had time to get acquainted with the city before the covid-19 pandemic shut most of it down.

As they began to talk walks and explore Lawrenceville and the surrounding area, the seeds of a short film began to take root.

"We heard that Pittsburgh had an up-and-coming film scene and very active independent film scene," said Lily, 25. "We were both drawn to visual storytelling. And Pittsburgh just felt like a really good place to explore that at our own pace."

The short film that resulted, "The Sailor," is among hundreds of entries at the Three Rivers Film Festival and Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival. They will take place back-to-back in November.

The structure of the 11-minute film almost seems documentary in nature. The Raghebs, who live in Shadyside, shot film all over the Lawrenceville and Strip District neighborhoods, with an Egyptian narrator speaking in Arabic about what he discovers as he explores the city.

But where many new visitors are taken by the city skyline as they come out of the Fort Pitt Tunnel, the Raghebs' camera lingers on the city's nooks and crannies — a crack in the sidewalk where weeds are sprouting, or the eaves of a historic home that are showing signs of weathering on the paint and woodwork.

The narrator repeats several lines of dialogue in similar ways as he describes what he encounters. Ahmed, 26, said the narration was written very deliberately.

"We became fascinated not just with the story being told, but the language that's used to tell it," he said. "This idea that the words you choose to say, and not say, can reveal more about how you feel than just a straight story with all facts."

Ahmed said "The Sailor" is a sort of cinematic postcard of Pittsburgh, a sort of visual poem about discovering one's surroundings.

But where the Raghebs focus on a character seeking connection, filmmaker and Banksville resident Stephen Turselli's main character is trying his best to avoid connections.

Turselli's "Nebby," which uses the classic Pittsburgh phrase for poking your nose into others' business as its title, is about a man trying to avoid interacting with his "nebby neighbor" at all costs.

"I'd just finished a short with another filmmaker and we got to talking about how films can make you feel," said Turselli, a New York native. "I wanted to leave people with a sort of uncomfortable-but-also-funny feeling."

To that end, the first large chunk of the film is suddenly placed into a whole new context through a twist in the plot.

"It's a little unclear what's happening, and then something happens that changes everything you saw leading up to that point," Turselli said.

"Nebby" was shot over three days, almost entirely in Wilkinsburg and Bloomfield.

Turselli said his favorite part of the project was working with West Virginia native and actor Jack Erdie, who has been in other locally-shot projects including "Out of the Furnace" and the "Banshee" television series.

"Every conversation I've had with him has been hugely interesting, and I've been looking for opportunities to direct him," Turselli said.

Setting up the groundwork for a big plot twist in a 15-minute film, however, was a bit of a challenge.

"You spend time setting up the plot and tossing red herrings out there," Turselli said. "But you don't have the luxury of an hour-and-a-half to let it all play out. You have to be upfront, but also delicate, about it."

And just like the Raghebs, Turselli found himself discovering and appreciating the look and feel of the Pittsburgh area.

"The house in Wilkinsburg where we did almost all of the filming was aesthetically perfect," he said. "It's like it was built for filming."

Lily Ragheb said that while the covid-19 pandemic was not enjoyable as a whole, she and her husband did get a lot of enjoyment out of exploring the city in its comparatively empty state.

"A lot of the natural areas and houses are so beautiful," she said. "We loved walking around, but you get a whole new perspective of it when you have a camera."

The Three Rivers Film Festival will be Nov. 10-16, with the Pittsburgh Shorts Festival Nov. 17-20. For more on both, see FilmPittsburgh.org.

Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick by email at pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .