<span>When </span><span>Zayn Alexander took his </span><span>latest short film </span><span><em>Manara</em></span><span> to the Venice Film Festival last month, he was </span><span>asked an intriguing question </span><span>during the audience Q&A afterwards. "Somebody asked me, 'Why did I choose to tell a movie about death when Lebanon is about life?'</span><span> I froze</span><span>," he </span><span>tells </span><span><em>The National</em></span><span>, </span><span>as the film is </span><span>about to </span><span>be screened at the Carthage Film Festival</span><span> in Tunis, which begins on Saturday.</span> <span>Away from the spotlight, </span><span>Alexander, 30, is more than able to articulate exactly why his film takes on such a difficult topic. Set in a small village in southern Lebanon, the Zayyad family are preparing for a</span><span> </span><span>funeral. With </span><span>only an hour to go before mourners arrive, </span><span>Alia (Hala Basma Safieddine) is at loggerheads with her children, Rami (Alexander) and Noura (Pascale Seigneurie)</span><span>, because she wants to keep the </span><span>reason for their father's death a secret from judgmental locals.</span> <span>"It's not really a film about death," Alexander says. "It's more about the cover-up and the secrecy and the examination of a culture and a set of behaviours and a set of dynamics within a family</span><span>."</span> <span>Raised in Lebanon but having liv</span><span>ed in New York for almost a decade, </span><span>Alexander says he wanted to "make a film about the obsession with appearances in Lebanon"</span><span>, which he says is a real psychological problem in the country</span><span>. "I wanted to talk about how far people are willing to go to avoid embarrassment."</span> <span>In the film, the "very dominant" Alia turns her grief-fuelled rage towards her children, even telling her son that he's achieved almost nothing in his life </span><span>at the age of 30. "In that part of the world, or in family-oriented cultures in general, there's a dynamic whereby families take each other for granted," says Alexander. "They say hurtful things and they say, 'W</span><span>e're family, they're never going to be hurt by what I say because they know my intentions are pure.' I wanted to showcase that – no, children do feel pain and they do hear what you're saying, even if the intentions are pure."</span> <span>Shot in the beautiful resort of Al</span><span> Fanar in the coastal town of Tyre in southern Lebanon, the action is all set </span><span>around a lighthouse, </span><span>or </span><span>"manara</span><span>" in Arabic</span><span>. "There's a metaphorical aspect to lighthouses</span><span>, because a lighthouse is supposed to show you the way</span><span> and warn ships about rough waters</span><span>," says Alexander. "So it's a path away from adversity, but the lighthouse in the film … you can see there's no light. That is the whole metaphor. The question is: how do you move from adversity? There is so much adversity within that family."</span> <span>Without venturing into spoiler territory, </span><span><em>Manara</em></span><span> also dips into issues of mental health – as did Manele Labidi Labbe's comedy </span><span><em>Arab Blues</em></span><span>, which is set in Tunisia and also played in Venice this year</span><span>. It stars </span><span>Golshifteh Farahani as a psychoanalyst in a country </span><span>in which </span><span>the profession is still in its infancy.</span> <span>"There is that kind of thinking that if you see a counsellor in that part of the world you're </span><span>labelled 'crazy', so people automatically resort to pills," </span><span>says Alexander. "There is not much focus on mental health and mental well-being in that part of the world."</span> <span>Alexander, who studied psychology at the American University of Beirut, says he hopes </span><span><em>Manara</em></span><span> "can be part of the overall conversation" when it comes to discussing</span><span> the subject more openly. "Mental health is such a global trending topic right now</span><span>," he says. "With social media and the rise of technology people feel more secluded than ever."</span> <span>The fact the film picked up the Laguna Sud 2019 Award for Best Short Film when it played before the Venice Days strand at the Italian festival, shows </span><span>how much it resonated with audiences.</span> <span><em>Manara</em></span><span> </span><span>is the second short Alexander</span><span> has directed, </span><span>after </span><span>last year's </span><span><em>Aboard</em></span><span>, which focuses on Arab actors in Hollywood</span><span> and </span><span>the stereotypes they face in the American film and </span><span>TV market. Both </span><span><em>Manara</em></span><span> and </span><span><em>Abroad</em></span><span> were scripted by </span><span>Seigneurie, who also co-stars with Alexander in both films. They met while working on a play in New York and have </span><span>forged a</span><span> working relationship. "On a personal level</span><span>, we connected because she's somebody who is filled with humility and she's very talented</span><span>," he says.</span> <span>Alexander has acted on screen for other directors, including </span><span>in Eduard Ordonez's 2017 TV movie </span><span><em>High School Noir</em></span><span> – but it was </span><span>Alexander's frustration with the business that turned him towards directing. "I wasn't getting the roles I wanted as an actor, I wasn't getting those fulfilling experiences," he says. "</span><span>So I decided it was time </span><span>for me to go behind the camera and tell stories my way."</span> <span>Now working on </span><span>the script </span><span>for his feature debut, </span><span>Alexander continues to do just that.</span> <em><span>Manara </span><span>is being screened at the Carthage Film Festival, which runs </span><span>from this Saturday until Saturday, November 2</span></em>