For as long as we can remember, a feature length film is what made a film, well, a film. But if you follow film festivals at all, you’d see that this year there’s one man who turned the eyes of every critic towards independent art. Coming from a small city in Minnesota, Eslam Hozayen has shocked this year’s international festivals with some incredibly creative projects that has won him many awards. Eslam Hozayen is an independent film writer and director known for creating stimulating short films that focus on the obscure power of the human brain and its cynical side. Hozayen’s highly acclaimed work includes “The devil within us” and “In a parallel universe”, two short films that are so thought-provoking they were perceived as offensive by many. Hozayen made it clear through many virtual comments that his goal is to “educate not offend”. Art speaks it for itself, the perception is almost always subjective; the director knows this which is why he presents a piece after another and moves on to the next. “If it makes you mad I’m sorry, but this is what art is supposed to do, it’s supposed to make you feel something, if anger is what you felt then that’s your perception” Hozayen tells yahoo news after receiving criticism from viewers during Paris film festival for his short film “In a parallel universe”, the film imagined a world where segregation still exists, but reversed, lots of images seemed out of line to audience members, that’s when virtual commentators made sure to voice their opinions of their disapproval and claimed the festival wouldn’t have screened this if it was the other way around. The film is now Hozayen’s most successful and most
awarded work to date. Yet his recent promos for his new project titled “Saints” released on directorslibrary.com, a website that shares creative cinematography from various filmmakers around the globe seemed even more promising and more thought-provoking than “In a parallel universe”. The director’s work can be found on his website eslamhozayen.com, where you can watch and judge for yourself.
