Zayn Alexander | |
|---|---|
 Zayn Alexander at the 2018 Santa Barbara International Film Festival | |
| Born | |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation(s) | Director, Actor |
| Years active | 2012 - present |
Zayn Alexander is a Lebanese film director and actor based in New York City. [1] He is known for his work on the short films Abroad and Manara .
Alexander was born and raised in Lebanon. [2] [3] Alexander studied psychology at the American University of Beirut and left for the United States to pursue acting in 2010. [2] [4] In New York City, he met fellow actor, Pascale Seigneurie, who would soon become a frequent collaborator. [4] The two paired up to create Abroad , a film about a Lebanese couple pursuing their acting dreams in America and struggling with being typecast in Middle Eastern roles. Seigneurie wrote the short film, Alexander directed. [2] [5] [6] The film was shot in one day. [5] It debuted at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in 2018. [6] [2] [7] [8] The Moise A. Khayrallah Center has awarded Alexander and Abroad The 2020 Khayrallah Art Prize. [9] [10]
In 2019, Alexander and Seigneurie followed up with Manara , a short film about a Lebanese funeral and a family coping with the cultural pressures of Lebanese society. [4] Manara was filmed in Tyre, Lebanon. [4] [11] It debuted during the 76th Venice International Film Festival in September 2019. [4]
| Year | Film | Actor | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Abroad |  | Jad | | Short film |
| 2019 | Manara | | Rami | | Short film |
Tyre is a city in Lebanon, one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, though in medieval times for some centuries by just a tiny population. It was one of the earliest Phoenician metropolises and the legendary birthplace of Europa, her brothers Cadmus and Phoenix, as well as Carthage's founder Dido (Elissa). The city has many ancient sites, including the Tyre Hippodrome, and was added as a whole to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1984. The historian Ernest Renan noted that "One can call Tyre a city of ruins, built out of ruins".
The culture of Lebanon and the Lebanese people emerged from various civilizations over thousands of years. It was home to the Phoenicians and was subsequently conquered and occupied by the Assyrians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Persians, the Arabs, the Crusaders, the Ottoman Turks and the French. This variety is reflected in Lebanon's diverse population, composed of different religious groups, and features in the country's festivals, literature, artifacts, cuisine and architecture of Lebanon. Tourism in Lebanon is popular with periods of interruption during conflict.
Lebanese diaspora refers to Lebanese migrants and their descendants who emigrated from Lebanon and now reside in other countries. There are more Lebanese living outside Lebanon, than within the country. The diaspora population consists of Christians, Muslims, Druze, and Jews. The Christians trace their origin to several waves of emigration, starting with the exodus that followed the 1860 Lebanon conflict in Ottoman empire.
Nadine Labaki is a Lebanese and Canadian actress, director, and activist. Labaki first came into the spotlight as an actress in the early 2000s. Her filmmaking career began in 2007 after the release of her debut film, Caramel, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. She is known for demonstrating everyday aspects of Lebanese life and covering a range of political issues such as war, poverty, and feminism. She is the first female Arab director to be nominated for an Oscar in the category for Best Foreign Language Film for third directorial effort, Capernaum (2018).
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Manara may refer to:
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is an eleven-day film festival held in Santa Barbara, California since 1986.
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Manara is the second short film directed by Lebanese filmmaker Zayn Alexander. It premiered in 2019 during the 76th Venice International Film Festival in the Giornate degli Autori section. The film was awarded the top prize at the 5th annual Laguna Sud - Il Cinema fuori dal Palazzo by a jury that included director Paola Randi, director of photography Valerio Azzali, and writer Franceso Targhetta. It went on to win the "Ahmed Khedr Award for Excellence in Arab Filmmaking" at the 2020 ÉCU The European Independent Film Festival and "Best Narrative Short Film" at the 2020 Alexandria Short Film Festival in Egypt.
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Abroad is a short film directed by Lebanese filmmaker Zayn Alexander. The film made its world premiere at the 33rd Santa Barbara International Film Festival on February 2, 2018. The Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies awarded Alexander the 2020 Khayrallah Art Prize for the film.
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