Sara Rose Moustaid
Sara Rose— a name given to me by my Armenian- American mother. And Moustaid— by my Moroccan immigrant father. Moustaid in Arabic, loosely translates to Ready. And I am. Ready to tell my stories, take up space, to craft with care and lead with integrity.
As an eldest daughter caught between cultural crossroads, I yearned for an acceptance and sense of belonging that would never find me. I never felt like I belonged to my parents, I felt like I belonged to the world. I was hungry, eager, restless. I needed more. I instinctually collided with any realistic or down-to-earth expectations that were set out for me. I did what came naturally to me as a first-gen, first born girl: I rocked the boat.
I asked for more. I pleaded and defied. I questioned the mold ruthlessly. I was determined to live on my own terms. With no map, no outline, just a fierce sense of independence. I can do it. Watch me.
I fell in love with performing as a young child. This was it—the place I could be free, be endlessly me. The stage is where I channeled all of my frustrations, my hopes, my voice. I continued to hone that voice in acting school, through countless auditions and many failures. I struggled and I shone. I persisted through endless obstacles, each took something away and gave an even bigger something back. I pushed beyond the point of breaking— I am still my fathers daughter.
After more than a decade in the arts, I realized the stories I kept coming back to were ones of persistence, defiance, and heart. Again and again I am forced to reckon with themes of illusion, performance, and identity. Who we are, what shapes us, and what keeps us going.
I created Club Maya and Three Girls— two very different films that reflect my ethos. Both are intimate, unflinching, and alive with the contradictions of survival, identity and meaning. Both search for answers in a comfort that will ultimately never come.
Beyond my own work, I created Eldest Daughter Foundation (EDF) as a resource for other artists— those who yearn to tell their stories in their way. Those who were expected to carry a weight that was never theirs, those who refuse to shrink, whose passion urges them to create with abandon. The eldest daughters. The pattern breakers.
We are ready.
— Sara Rose Moustaid