Director: Hassan Raza
Writer: Hassan Raza
Actors: Sonera Angel, Brij Mohan, James Graeme, Monisha Hassen
Synopsis: Zaara is a young filmmaker with a lot of debt and nothing but holes in her pockets. One early morning, she leaves her house to shoot the final scene in her film. However, as she is busy filming, two unscrupulous bailiffs pay her family a visit.
With The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival will be returning once again from 26th – 29th May, I got an opportunity to ask Writer-Director Hassan Raza a few questions about the film ‘Zaara’ which has been selected to play at the festival on Saturday 28th May at 4pm.
Q. What can we expect from the film?
A. Hopefully, a realistic, emotional, engaging story.
Q. How did the idea for the film come about?
A. I watched a film called Amelie and a film called Ida. Both of these films just stuck with me and in order for me to get those films out of my head, I needed to make Zaara.
I really liked the fact that in both those movies, the protagonist is a female dreamer who does things her way, regardless of the consequences. I’d like to think that Zaara is similar to those characters.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. My main inspiration for the look for the film came from other no/low budget independent features.
These include, Who’s that Knocking at my Door, Following, The 400 Blows, Breathless.
Q. Were there any elements of the original script which were adapted during filming?
A. Minor things, but on the whole, the film is an accurate representation of the script.
Q. What were your favourite moments whilst making the Film?
A. My favourite moments were whenever an actor improvised a scene and it came out better than I could have hoped for. The moment that sticks in my mind is when Harvey (James Graeme) pushes through the door and Aslam (Brij Mohan) had no idea that he will actually try to come through the house. The whole set was charged with a fantastic energy because of that moment
Q. Did you experience any issues whilst making the film?
A. Like any production, we experienced numerous challenges during the making of this film. One of the biggest issues was lighting. I had intended for a vast majority of the film to be lit with sunlight. But I wasn’t aware of just how constant sunlight change is. Another challenging factor was the fact that, we were shooting in my family house with people actually living there and we had to continually disturb them and ask them to be quiet.
Q. What do you hope people will take away from the film
A. I simply hope that people will enjoy the film as a work of fiction.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are working on?
A. Yes, I am currently writing a feature length screenplay!
Q. If someone is looking to direct their first film, what advice would you give them?
A. Don’t spend a moment thinking about what other people want to see, or if the film will be successful in film festivals. Simply write the story that is truly in your heart and the rest will take care of itself!
You can find out more about Zaara on the website at https://www.zaarafilm.com/ and on Instagram, Facebook and IMDb.
The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival runs from 26th – 29th
You can find out more about the end and purchase tickets on the website here: https://www.southendfilmfestival.com/
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
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