By the Hunter College Short Film Team
2rd Place Winner, Short Film Competition, 2019 NY MSA Showdown
Editor’s Note: Muslim Youth Musings had the honor and opportunity to collaborate with NY MSA Showdown for their 2019 Competition, assist in judging the Creative Writing and Spoken Word contests, and publish selected winning entries in the categories of Creative Writing, Spoken Word, Photography, and Short Film. We congratulate all of the competitors and winners on producing high-quality work that is now being shared with Muslims across the world.
There is a common misconception that our problems have direct solutions. A quick glance into Sana’s life shows how some people tend to avoid dealing with their problems. Sana put up this facade of having an active father in her life to avoid pity and questions. Sana was unwilling to let anyone in and often lied to her friends in order to uphold this fable. Through this short film, we follow Sana as she comes to accept her life and begins the process of recovery. We saw that it was important to show a person’s struggle before they could fathom the idea of recovering. Recovering from trauma is not easy, every step takes a sincere amount of effort, and compared to putting in the effort it is just easier to leave it be, this doesn’t mean it’s the best. With every step comes personal growth, and the length of every step varies from person to person.
Sana’s connection to her and Dad and anything related to him had been broken for years until her half-sister sought out to mend their relationship. Accepting her half-sister is almost like validating what her dad did to her by leaving the family. In reality, she was scared to easily forgive, knowing that someone else was happy at her expense. The last scene of the film focuses on a lit candle with a frame in the back that states “and He found you lost and guided you”. We saw that it was important for Sana to admit being closed off, which made her ignorant to the bridges in her life that were broken. The lighting of the flame is representative of Hibba, the spark to Sana’s realization. You can’t fix a closed heart, which is what we battle in this film the opening up, the slow mending of a broken bridge. We felt that it was important not to show a direct solution because Sana is on a journey and this is just the beginning.
About the Team
ACTORS:
Pahema Popi – Sana
Nadia Rahman – Hibba
Murshika Emu – Mom
MAIN EDITOR:
Murshika Emu
SUPPORTING EDITORS:
Khandaker Faisal
CAMERA CREW:
Murshika Emu
Richard Eustache
Fahria Orine
