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Logline

In this sweeping 40-year romance set in Beirut, two star-crossed lovers, one an eternal optimist and the other an impulsive pragmatist, must decide if they want to build a family and chart a track to happiness, despite the tragic fates ravaging contemporary Lebanon.

Synopsis

Born on the saddest day of Lebanese history on the backdrop of a massacre, Nino and Yasmina seem meant to be since childhood –as adorned by cosmic events revolving around their inevitable encounter. With the hardships they face growing up, Nino loses both of his parents, while Yasmina’s parents’ divorce. Their shared understanding of each other’s sorrows forges an unbreakable bond between them. Yasmina offers Nino an escape to save them from their reality in Beirut, dreaming of a magical train ride that would take them to a remote island. Enchanted with Yasmina’s boundless imagination, Nino agrees to join her, but their plan fails miserably when she moves away with her mother.

Twenty-four years later, celestial events conspire to reunite them once more. Despite her pessimistic outlook on life and Beirut, Yasmina can’t help but be enchanted by Nino’s unwavering joy and boundless optimism. She falls head over heels in love with him, abandoning her emigration plans, swept away by their profound love.

When Yasmina becomes pregnant, their bond is tested. Though Nino yearns for a child, Yasmina’s childhood trauma makes her wary. Yet she realizes if she were to ever construct the family she’d never had, it would be with Nino –the sole person who taught her to smile again.

Eight years later, as Beirut crumbles under decay, even optimistic Nino struggles. They clash over their daughter Amal’s future: stay to rebuild or emigrate? When it seems like there’s nothing left to salvage, they turn towards each other, making one last choice to be together as the skies erupt in cosmic spectacle.
 

Meet the Filmmakers

Cyril Aris — Writer/Director
Cyril Aris is a Lebanese Director & Screenwriter and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences®. His latest feature documentary Dancing on the Edge of Volcano (2023), recipient of a post-production grant from the Sundance Institute in the US and the Robert Bösch Film Prize in Germany, premiered in the Main Competition of the 57th Karlovy Vary IFF, where it won a jury special mention. It had its UK premiere in competition at the 67th BFI London Film Festival and its North American premiere in competition at DOC NYC, and played at CPH DOX. It won the Audience Award at the 38th Mostra de Valencia in Spain, the Audience Award at the 64th Festival Dei Popoli in Italy, the Best Film award at the 29th Medfilm Festival in Rome, the Viewfinder Main Prize at the 20th Verzio Human Rights Festival in Budapest, and a jury special mention at the 45th Cinémed in France.

His debut feature documentary, The Swing (2018), premiered at the Karlovy Vary IFF, and won awards in El-Gouna, Rome, London, Budapest and Tunisia. The Hollywood Reporter called it an ‘Intimate and moving […] meditation on truth, love and lies in the face of illness and death’.

He is currently in post-production for his first fiction feature, It’s a Sad and Beautiful World. The movie is produced by Abbout Productions (Lebanon), Diversity Hire (USA), and Reynard Films (Germany).

Diversity Hire Ltd — Production Company
Diversity Hire Ltd is the production banner founded in 2021 by writer-producer April Shih and Jen Goyne Blake, the founding director of the Sundance Episodic Lab.

While soul-searching during the pandemic, Shih (whose credits include DAVE, Fargo, You’re the Worst, Undone, and Mrs. America) discovered that she wanted to cultivate a community of artists and devote herself to elevating other diverse voices. Blake, who produced over 20 labs during her time at Sundance (including with alums such as Barry Jenkins, Katori Hall, and Desiree Akhavan), wanted to find even more meaningful ways to help artists in the industry. Serendipitously they came together to establish their production company Diversity Hire Ltd, founded on the core tenet of artist support.

The company’s first feature film, Joyland, was an official selection for the 2022 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize. Joyland had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, received the Indie Spirit Award for Best International Film in 2023, and was shortlisted for the 2023 Oscars. Their next international feature, It’s a Sad and Beautiful World, is currently in post-production and slated to be released in 2025.

Abbout Productions — Production Company
Founder and CEO of Abbout Productions, Georges Schoucair developed and produced critically acclaimed and award-winning independent movies and has actively contributed to the establishment of an attractive and globally acknowledged environment for film investments in Lebanon and to the development of the Lebanese cinema, one of the most promising cinemas in the Middle East today. As a producer, Georges was able to develop strong relationships with prominent Arab and international film professionals and closely worked with award-winning directors (such as Kaouther Ben Hania, Vatche Boulghourjian, Jean Luc Godard, Alain Gomis, Joana Hadjithomas, Annemarie Jacir, Khalil Joreige, Mohammad Malas, Lucrecia Martel, Shirin Neshat, Asli Ozge, Rafi Pitts, Bill Plympton, Ghassan Salhab, Elia Suleiman, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul) and internationally recognized actors (such as Catherine Deneuve, Pierre Richard, Nadine Labaki, Nada Abou Farhat, and Diamand Bou Abboud). His films have screened at prestigious film festivals such as Cannes, Berlinale, Toronto, Venice, Locarno, and Karlovy Vary. In parallel to Abbout Productions, Georges co-founded MC Distribution, which releases independent films in the Middle East and North Africa, and is since 2008 the vice-president of Metropolis, the only art-house cinema in Beirut. His most recent endeavor is founding Schortcut Films in 2016 which has co-produced many acclaimed films like Félicité (2017), Wajib (2017), Rafiki (2018), Beauty & The Dogs (2018), It Must Be Heaven (2019), and A Son (2019). In 2019, Georges was invited as a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in the Executive branch, from the Middle East.

Joe Saade — Cinematographer
Joe Saade is a Lebanese cinematographer renowned for his versatile expertise in capturing the essence of fiction, documentary, and TV series, drawing inspiration from his fascination with architecture and the subtleties of human faces. Joe enjoys fluctuating between working on big sets on one hand, and with the intimacy of working with minimal crews on the other.

His latest feature work includes the critically acclaimed feature film Joyland, directed by Saim Sadiq, which earned the Jury award at Cannes Un certain regard in 2022. Costa Brava: Lebanon (2021), directed by Mounia Akl, official selection Orizzonti Venice Film Festival and recipient of Toronto International Film Festival Netpac Award and the Audience Award at the BFI London Film Festival. Broken Keys (2020) by Jimmy Keyrouz, an official selection at Cannes, and latest Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano (2023), directed by Cyril Aris, which premiered in the main competition of Karlovy Vary.
He’s currently in pre-production on several projects including the feature film It’s a Sad and Beautiful World directed by Cyril Aris. Joe is based in Beirut, from which he has traveled for work to New York, the Brazilian Amazon, Egypt, Turkey, Kenya, Oman, UK, Germany, and Pakistan for shoots that have ranged from architecture projects to workers’ rights, from fiction to fashion, and from comedy to drama, showcasing a commitment to storytelling that transcends genres and borders.

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Contact

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