Cyril Aris’ romantic drama A Sad and Beautiful World has been selected for Best International Feature Film in the 98th Academy Awards by Lebanon.
A Sad & Beautiful World won the People’s Choice Award at the Venice world premiere. After making a splash in Venice, the film is heading to Hamburg, London, and Valladolid, with more festival stops lined up.
Yasmina and Nino were born on the same tragic day in Lebanon and shared a deep connection from the start. But life soon took them in separate directions. Yasmina leaves with her mother, while Nino grows up clinging to hope in a country scarred by instability. Decades later, fate reunites them as adults, and their love story unfolds against the backdrop of a Lebanon struggling with political unrest and economic collapse. Yasmina, cautious and scarred by the past, wrestles with fears of raising a child in such uncertainty, while Nino, ever the optimist, dreams of building a future at home. When Yasmina becomes pregnant, their story deepens into a meditation on love, resilience, and the impossible choices of whether to stay and fight for a life in their homeland or leave in search of safety.
led by Mounia Akl as Yasmina and Hasan Akil as Nino, they are supported by acclaimed actors Julia Kassar and Camille Salameh, along with Anthony Karam and Nadyn Chalhoub.
Directed by Cyril Aris marks his debut fiction feature. Aris’s The Swing (2018), which debuted at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, and Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano (2023), recipient of a Special Jury Mention at the same festival.
The film is produced by Georges Schoucair, Jen Goyne Blake, April Shih, Georg Neubert, and Jasper Wiedhöft
Behind the production is Abbout Productions, one of Lebanon’s leading film companies, working in collaboration with international partners in the USA, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.