Salam Short Film
Directed by Claire Fowler
Starring Leslie Bibb, Hana Chamoun, Jessica Damouni, Julie Baroody, Khaled Al Maleh, Dean Masoud
Short Film Review by Elia Short Films Festival
Only the wait of the unknown can make those who are absent seem present. But what if the absent from here becomes really absent from now?
One phone call was all it takes to make a shift in Salam's (Hana Chamoun) life. She is a taxi driver living with her brother, his wife, and children in Brooklyn, the aftermath of the circumstances in Syria forced her to find a new home away from her parents and husband Mousa.
The story begins on one of salam's night shifts, a call from her brother informs her that her husband Mousa suffered a dangerous head injury due to bombing in Syria, and asking her to return home and await further news.
However, Salam chooses to work instead as a distraction from her worried thoughts, she receives an order from Audrey (Leslie Bibb) and agrees since she needs the money to support her family, Audrey seems distressed as Salam, so they bond over coffee, and Odrey decides to return to her mother's house, on the way Odrey receives a call and decides to return to Brooklyn, Meanwhile Salam receives a call reassuring her about those who are absent yet present.
It's fair to say that (Claire Fowler) succeeded in creating "Salam" as a Strong, yet weak, quite and soothing main character. Her expressive use of colors and lighting to represent Salam's emotional state, projecting on to the viewer the difficulty of waiting and the state of those who wait. A beautifully woven fabric of camera, lighting, production design and editing, that Fowler professionally and masterly produced.
