Private Project

The Buraq That Can’t Fly (Director's Cut)

In a delicate dance of dreams and duty, a young Muslim mother, inspired by cinema, defies societal norms. She crafts a short film at home, starring her baby and neighborhood children, weaving her story of faith, motherhood, and passion.

  • Zeed M
    Director
    Fallen Leaves, Broken Lighters
  • Zeed M
    Writer
  • Shanaia Khurisigara
    Key Cast
    "Ayesha"
  • Shafin Azim
    Key Cast
    "Nargis"
  • Syed Muteen
    Key Cast
    "Niyas"
  • Khan Mohammad Arham
    Key Cast
    "Rumi"
  • Sri Kishore
    Key Cast
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    不會飛的鳳凰
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama
  • Runtime:
    24 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    October 6, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    17,000 HKD
  • Country of Origin:
    Hong Kong
  • Country of Filming:
    Hong Kong
  • Language:
    English, Urdu
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • IFVA all about us film festival
    Hong kong
    Hong Kong
    December 6, 2024
    World Premiere
    Young filmmaker program organised by HK arts centre
Director Biography - Zeed M

Zeed is a Hong Kong–born Indian filmmaker whose work stands out for its emotional depth and lyrical visual storytelling. With a background in pharmaceutical sciences and fluency in English, Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi, Zeed brings a unique cultural and intellectual richness to his films.

His short The Buraq That Can’t Fly blends themes of cultural displacement and imagination with a poetic realism, earning a 5-star review from Short Films Matter. In Dead With a Side of Saudade, Zeed shifts gears, exploring grief and transience with subtle humor and emotional restraint. The film won at the Kollywood International Film Festival, received a Special Mention at the Panorama Film Festival of Bengaluru (2024), and was a semi-finalist at other festivals.

Zeed was first recognized in 2014 as a finalist at the India Mobile Film Festival for his short minutes. Since then, he has written, directed, and acted in several independent projects, including the anthology Fallen Leaves, Broken Lighters, which premiered in Hong Kong. There, he directed the segment Dead With a Side of Saudade and acted in Fleeting Impermanence. He also appears in the HK feature film The Sunny Side of the Street (2022).

Now developing his debut feature film, Zeed continues to explore the in-between spaces of realism and fantasy, tradition and reinvention — always with a voice that feels both intimate and universal.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

When I was a child in Hong Kong, my mother and I navigated Hong Kong beneath these neon signs, her gentle voice weaving tales of dreams reflecting her own—these memories planted the seed for this film. In the Buraq That Can’t Fly, I recreate that world through my story. The family’s journey is captured through Ayesha’s home video camera, a device she uses as a creative outlet. Her footage becomes more than memories. At its heart, this film is an ode to my mother’s stories and the resilient hope she gifted me. This film taught me that true flight isn’t about strength; it’s about permission. Permission to believe in the impossible.