Manara

Name: Manara
Genre: Short, Drama
Released: 2019
Duration: 15 min

Director: Zayn Alexander

Rights:

Highlights

Ranked among the Top Ten Arab Short Films of 2019 by Raseef22.
Screened at several key international film festivals.
Received the Laguna Sud Award for Best Short Film at the Laguna Sud, Il Cinema Fuori dal Palazzo in Italy.
Examines family ties as opposed to obsession with appearances in Lebanon.
The entire action is unfolding around a lighthouse, which is used metaphorically.
Highlights the stigmatization of mental illnesses in the Arab world.
Another scripting-acting collaboration between Zayn Alexander and Pascale Seigneurie after the short ABROAD (2018).
Helmed by an internationally recognized director.

2019/ Lebanon15 min/ Short, Drama

Original Title

Manara

SYNOPSIS

Tragedy strikes when the Zayyad family loses its patriarch under mysterious circumstances, leaving the surviving members to fend for themselves within a judgmental community in Southern Lebanon.

CAST

Hala Basma Safieddine
Zayn Alexander
Pascale Seigneurie

CREW

Screenwriter: Pascale Seigneurie
DOP: Aron Meinhardt
Editor: Stephanie Nassar

Production Company(ies)

ZMA Entertainment LLC

Producer(s)

Zayn Alexander

Carthage Film Festival (JCC), Tunisia

Venice International Film Festival, Italy

ÉCU - The European Independent Film Festival, France

Laguna Sud, Il Cinema Fuori dal Palazzo, Italy

Alexandria Short Film Festival, Egypt

Festival del Cinema e della Televisione Benevento, Italy Lonely Wolf: London International Film Festival, UK

NewFilmmakers Los Angeles, USA

Lebanese Film Festival Australia, Australia

Elba Film Festival, Italy

River Film Festival, Italy

Militello Independent Film Fest,Italy

Laguna Sud Award for Best Short Film at the Laguna Sud, Il Cinema Fuori dal Palazzo, Italy

Silver Hypatia Award for Best Narrative Short Film at the Alexandria Short Film Festival, Egypt

Ahmed Khedr Award for Excellence in Arab Filmmaking at the ÉCU - The European Independent Film Festival, France

Best foreign Film at Lonely Wolf: London International Film Festival, UK

Best Actor at Elba Film Festival, Italy

Reviews

Lorna Codrai - Film Inquiry

Bianca Garner - In Their Own League

James Mottram - The National

Kyle Bain-Film Threat

Franglais27 Tales

Quotes

“Alexander does a wonderful job of examining a culture struggling with an increasing mental health crisis.” Lorna Codrai – Film Inquiry

““Manara” is a perfect example of how to carefully construct a short film narrative and Alexander along with writer Pascale Seigneurie manage to weave together a story which feels so real and genuine that we forget we are watching a film.” Bianca Garner - In Their Own League

"... thanks to the impeccable effort put forth by Zayn Alexander, Pascale Seigneurie, and Hala Basma Safieddine, Manara finds success among its viewers." - Kyle Bain,Film Threat

"An impressive tautly directed tale of a family in distress." - Franglais27 Tales