A Sad and Beautiful World

“A thought-provoking, quiet masterpiece” – BFI London Film Festival

“evocative, wistful romance that uses its central couple to mirror Lebanon’s recent history.” – Variety

In this sweeping love story spanning three decades of friendship, passion, heartbreak, and hope, Nino, an eternal optimist, and Yasmina, an impulsive pragmatist, are drawn together by a magnetic connection. Struggling with universal choices of adult life in the extraordinary circumstances of a country
constantly ravaged by war, they are confronted with an impossible choice between love and survival. They must decide whether to build a family and chart a path to happiness in Lebanon, despite the tragedies ravaging their country, or seize the opportunity to reinvent themselves far from home.

The film won the Audience Award at Venice and became Lebanon’s official Oscar entry. It stars Mounia Akl and Hasan Akil as lovers who must decide whether to build a life in their beloved, battered home or leave it behind.

Join us for a screening of Cyril Aris’s A Sad and Beautiful World, a funny, heartbreaking love story and a portrait of Lebanon through war, crisis, and hope.

6:30 PM – Doors open
7:00 PM – Film starts

Tickets:
$10 for non-members
$5 for members (WJCT donor of $60 per year minimum)

Run time: 1 hour, 49 minutes
Arabic with English subtitles
Not rated (but suggested for audience 15+)

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