A Sad and Beautiful World
Ambitious and emotionally potent, Cyril Aris’s drama explores one couple’s romantic travails with three tumultuous decades of Lebanese history as the backdrop.
Description
Ambitious and emotionally potent, Cyril Aris’s drama explores one couple’s romantic travails with three tumultuous decades of Lebanese history as the backdrop. Since childhood, Nino and Yasmina have had a connection. The former loses his parents to a car accident while the latter feels her world shaken by the separation of hers. Flash forward, and a car crash of a different sort reunites the two as young adults and their bond rekindles. In the final period, Nino’s optimism clashes with Yasmina’s more realistic outlook as they discuss children and whether or not to leave the country they love but that is riven by conflict and economic uncertainty. The filmmaking is dynamic, employing various techniques to convey the swirl of life and love in a volatile world while the two lead actors share a big-hearted chemistry amid the challenges Nino and Yasmina face. —Rod Armstrong
Biographies
Cyril Aris was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and received his MFA from Columbia University. He makes his feature narrative debut with A Sad and Beautiful World. Among his other works are feature documentaries The Swing (2018) and Dancing at the Edge of a Volcano (2023), as well as many shorts, including The President’s Visit (2017). He wrote, directed, and starred in Beirut, I Love You (2011-2012), a series inspired by his 2009 short.
