Lebanese-American filmmaker Zayn Alexandre premiered his debut short, Abroad, at the Santa Barbara film festival in 2018. The following year, his second film Manara received a special screening in the Venice Days section of the Venice Film Festival. An alum of the TIFF (Toronto) Filmmaker Lab, he holds double masters’ degrees from Columbia University and New York University. “Saint Rose” is his latest short.
Saint Rose is screening at Red Sea Film Festival
Rose, an obviously tense and unhappy Lebanese mother and housewife, is preparing for her daughter’s engagement party, determined to make everything perfect for the arrival of her future in-laws. In reality, however, the pursuit of this perfection is instigated by her husband’s obsession with every detail, which becomes quite apparent when his voice criticizing everything starts being heard around the house. An even more tense Rose hides in the bathroom, drinking the vodka the African maid brings her, with the girl seeming to be the only calm person in the house.
Zayn Alexandre shoots a film about how appearances can be misleading, with the whole film essentially, mirroring this message, and the finale being the most indicative scene. In that fashion, under the exquisite appearance of Rose a nervous breakdown is well hidden, while underneath the impeccable house and the big smiles hides a rather intense marriage. Under the seemingly non-drinking of the Muslims, probably homemade liquor seems to be available, cementing the aforementioned comment.
Ghada Basma in the role of Rose gives a great performance, highlighting how she crumbles under the tension quite convincingly. Sharon Chepkwemoi Watoka as the maid provides a sense of deadpan humor here, in the way she seems completely unaffected by everything that happens around her.
The cinematography is rather polished, in a way that mirrors the spotlessness of the house, making the aforementioned comment more intense, with the tension, however, coming more from the acting and the sound than the visuals. The editing results in a fast tempo that allows the story to be told without rushing in the 13 minutes of the movie.
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“Saint Rose” is an appealing short, which presents its comment in entertaining and smart fashion, while the acting emerges as one of its best traits.
