Saïna - HOTEL 555 (Short Film)
Stream “HOTEL 555” Here
Last month, creative recording artist, model, and DJ Saïna released HOTEL 555 on 23rd October, a conceptual project that fuses a short film and an EP into a single cinematic audiovisual experience. It is the second instalment in her three-part EP and short film trilogy, and her most ambitious work to date.
The project turns toward the human condition, moving through death and rebirth, dreams and transformation. These are large themes, but Saïna handles them with a personal, intimate touch, drawing on her dual Japanese and English heritage. Musically, the EP blends neo-soul, Latin, and orchestral elements into something lush, dreamlike, and emotionally direct.
The film draws on both Asian and European cinema, with nods to the work of visionary directors Wong Kar-wai and Gaspar Noé. From Wong Kar-wai comes a sense of longing and neon-lit melancholy. From Noé comes a more immersive, unsettling intensity. Saïna balances the two, so the film feels as though it exists in a world of its own, somewhere between memory and dream.
HOTEL 555 is also part of a wider shift in how artists release music. The EP and the film are not separate pieces. Each deepens the other, and together they ask the listener to step inside a world rather than simply press play.
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An exploration of escapism, asking what happens when the things we turn to for comfort begin to keep us from ourselves, the liminal space between death & rebirth, dreams & transformation - where guests can step beyond the boundaries of their everyday selves.
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Written & Directed by Saïna & Calvin Ma
Cinematography Brett Bushell
Edit Myth Shah
Trailer edit Shiona Penrake
Colour Anna Bursukova
Wardrobe Nuha Hussain
Thanks to PRS Foundation, PPL UK, Sonic Futures, Tees Valley
