Aziza (عزيزة) is a 13 minute short film, directed by Soudade Kaadan, that leaves you with a lot to think about. After watching Aziza a couple times, I’m still not sure whether the two characters have lost their grip on reality or whether they’re consciously acting out different scenarios and that ambiguity seems intentional.

The two characters in the film are a married couple from Syria who have been newly displaced to Lebanon. The movie opens with the husband teaching the wife how to drive, but the car (named Aziza) isn’t actually moving. The husband is narrating different situations that his wife, Alia, is reacting to. In reality, they are sitting in their car, in a parking garage. 

The plot thickens when they finally hit the streets and encounter real traffic. As they drive through the streets, they wind deeper into an alternate, nostalgic world. It’s both fascinating and alarming to watch the shock and terror on their faces as they imagine traffic disasters that could happen in Beirut and the joy on their faces as they rebuild in their minds a life and community that may be gone forever.

Those of you who followed the show Masafat Aman with us, may recognize the actors in Aziza, Karess Bashar and Abdel Monein Amayri, as Sarab and Hossam. With a little imagination, this movie could depict an alternate ending to Sarab and Hossam’s Masafat Aman subplot. It was a bit distracting to me at first, but added an unintended layer of intrigue.

Aziza won the 2019 Short Film Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and is currently available on Netflix English/Arabic subtitles

Vocabulary / مفردات

12:26
مطب
Speed bump

11:20
انتبهي
Be careful! (feminine command)

11:08
الكاسيت
The cassette (transliteration)

10:50
السرعة
The speed limit

10:51
اعطيك الإشارة
Put on your blinker/turn signal

10:30
عجلة
Wheel

10:22
في "ترايلر"
There’s a tractor trailer

10:13
يا حيوان
You animal!
Context: Ayman yells this at another driver after a near accident

8:54
انبعاجات السيارة
The car is dented

8:48
اكرهه
I hate it!

5:54
اشارة
Traffic light

5:25
وقفت
It [the car] stopped!

4:48
مثلي انك تسوقي
Pretend you’re driving

3:13
حارتنا
Our street/lane

2:23
نعيده مرة تانية؟
Shall we repeat it again?