Auspicious Return
![](https://wp.blackstarfest.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/171744194247834881a90442ca3550d6b-1-1145x644.jpg)
Screenings
Auspicious Return is a film that follows our main character Sayeed and his yearning for answers about himself and his family’s past. Sayeed is a 13-year-old boy on his annual vacation on Martha’s Vineyard with his family. He has recently taken up the teenage habit of perpetually wearing earphones and wandering off to nearby bodies of water. His connection to, and obsession with, open waters has been concerning and perplexing to his family, except his grandmother, who holds a secret only Sayeed can access. While navigating a confusing time in his life, Sayeed begins to ask questions about his maternal ancestors. Through his dreams, we get closer to the answers about his lineage and name.
Directors Spotlight
![A picture of a woman named Mahsati Fidel Moorhead. She is seated on a dark gray sofa against a pale, neutral background. Mahsati is casually leaning back with one elbow resting on the arm of the sofa. She has a calm, relaxed expression on her face with a faint smile. Her hair is neatly tied back, and she is wearing hoop earrings. She is dressed in a white, sleeveless top and high-waisted white pants. Over her outfit, she wears a luxurious, cream-colored, long jacket with intricate, floral embroidery.](https://wp.blackstarfest.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ShortNarrative_AuspiciousReturn__Mahsati-Fidel-Moorhead_tezza0170-e1720032169197-278x278.jpg)
Mahsati Fidel Moorhead
Director
Mahsati Moorhead is an image maker and an artist. Her preferred mediums are photography and textiles. Her work explores the intersection of adornment, image-making, and cultural expression. She believes that photography and fashion tell a story. Visual poetry. She is interested in understanding cultural narratives by capturing gestures, costumes, and culturally expressive rituals. There is so much to glean about identity from the color of a woman’s garment to the preparation for a child’s first birthday. She contrasts and connects the poetry of her culture (African/ West Indian /Feminist / Muslim/ Urban /Sister /Daughter /Artist/Activist) to the social practices of the larger world. She interprets these dynamics from my point of view using light and the frame. She immerses herself in a multiplicity of cultures as a way to gain new perspectives of her own identity. She believes that making art, film, images and garments is another way to “fight”. She is fighting for a chance to represent our visual stories in a self-determined way. Representation matters.
- Runtime 5 minutes
- Country United States
- Language English
- Director Mahsati Fidel Moorhead
- Cast Ziggy Sayeed, Mali Jackson, Jamyla Bennu, Mario Moorhead, Pierre Bennu
- Cinematographer Mahsati Fidel
- Screenwriter Story by Mahsati Fidel
- Premiere East Coast