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When a withdrawn Middle Eastern man begins frequenting a Boston café, the headwaiter grows increasingly suspicious about the true nature of his visits.

Selected scenes

Awards

2018
Waltham Film Factory Shorts Fest Best Narrative Film
2018
Transilvania Shorts Best Human Rights Film
2018
Redstone Film Festival Best Film
2017
A Word of Dreams Best Short Film
2017
Screen Critix Award Best Short Film
2017
Roxbury International Film Festival Honorable mention
2017
Boston International Film Festival Best Director for a short film

Main cast

Essam Ferris

Rina Hasani

Mitch Fortier

“Silent power, emotion, and reflection”

“Fifteen minutes of silent power, emotion, and reflection. That is how I describe director Raouf Zaki’s newest film, 'Fireflies', which speaks to the nature of Arab American racial profiling in America.”

Colby Cyrus
Contributing Writer, Arab America

“Powerful biases and truths”

“Beyond the production’s technically well-executed product — in composition, sound, and direction — 'Fireflies' speaks to powerful biases and truths that lie dormant in our society, and more importantly, within ourselves.”

Mashael Alqahtani
Medium.com

“'Fireflies' - FilmFervor”

“If you use the alien invading your town as an archetype of the fear of your society, then your film has a message, and everybody can relate to that.”

Justin Kincaid
FilmFervor.com

“Dramatic and timely context”

“The controversy ignited by President Trump’s attempts at banning travelers from several largely Muslim countries provides a dramatic and timely context for Holliston filmmaker Raouf Zaki’s Fireflies.”

Loren King
Boston Globe

“Appropriately timed and relevant”

“With what has been happening in the world recently, 'Fireflies' couldn’t be more appropriately timed and relevant if it tried.”

Carl Burgess
Screencritix

“Mandatory viewing”

“For both the cinephile interested in seeing an exhibition of sheer craft as well as those who want to perceive existence through someone else’s eyes: ['Fireflies'] is mandatory viewing.”

Andrew Buckner
A Word of Dreams

“Powerful and painfully relevant”

“'Fireflies' is a powerful and painfully relevant piece of short filmmaking, one that will make audiences feel decidedly unnerved for all the right reasons.”

Chris Olson
UK Film Review
Take a peek

Behind the scenes

fireflies-burning-building

and learn more about this film without dialog.

RA Vision Productions

Making films that enlighten, educate, and entertain