Presented in the Venice International Film Festival's Giornate degli Autori line-up, A Sad and Beautiful World by Cyril Aris is an ode to the Lebanese director and screenwriter’s homeland which has had a lasting influence on his cinematographic output. After two acclaimed documentaries presented in Karlovy Vary (The Swing and Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano [+lee también:
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A Sad and Beautiful World speaks of a love story lasting over thirty years between Nino (Hasan Akil) and Yasmina (played intensely by the actress, screenwriter and director Mounia Akl, with whom Aris previously collaborated as an editor on his movie Costa Brava, Lebanon [+lee también:
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Delicately exploring the power of human connection, A Sad and Beautiful World not only shows the power of love and human ties, but also the salvatory power of humour which is present throughout the film. Laughing, loving and crying, whether from pain or joy, is the only way for the film’s characters to carry on hoping for a Lebanon which is finally free to exist.

Telling a love story, which also spans three decades, is undoubtedly risky, but the two protagonists’ complex and non-clichéd personalities stop the director from falling into the trap of sentimentalism. Enhanced by archive footage and Anthony Sahyoun’s imposing yet brilliantly thought-through score, the film leads the public between reality and fiction, hope and despair, and the need to escape and the fear of leaving; contradictory feelings which speak to the identity of a continually changing country.

A Sad and Beautiful World was produced by Abbout Production (Lebanon), Diversity Hire (USA) and Reynard Films (Germany). Paradise City Sales are managing international sales.