cinematography
Joe Saade
editing
Nat Sanders
Cyril Aris
music
Anthony Sahyoun

sound
Rana Eid
production design
Hanady Medlej
costumes
Zeina Saab Demelero

cast
Mounia Akl (Yasmina)
Hasan Akil (Nino)
Julia Kassar (Omaya)
Camille Salameh (Antoine)
Anthony Karam (Chafic)
Nadyn Chalhoub (Leila)

productions
Abbout Productions
Diversity Hire
Reynard Films
co-productions
Sunnyland Film
Member of ART and The Red Sea Fund
Red Sea International Film Festival Initiative
producers
Georges Schoucair
Jennifer Goyne Blake
April Shih
Georg Neubert
Jasper Wiedhöft
co-producer
Eli Makovetsky
with the support of
Fonds Image de la Francophonie
Doha Film Institute
Visions Sud Est
SDC (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation)
Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung
Hessen Film Und Medien
The Atlas Workshops – Marrakech International Film Festival
The Lebanese Film Fund an Initiative Organized by Fondation Liban Cinema Funded by the European Union
Sächsische Landesmedienanstalt
in association with
Giant Leap Media Ventures
Sultan Production
Film Manufacturers
Faliro House Production
Tin Clam Productions

world sales
Paradise City Sales
www.paradisecity-films.com
sales@paradisecity-films.com

international press office
Gloria Zerbinati
gloria.zerbinati@gmail.com

In this sweeping love story that spans three decades of passion, heartbreak, and hope, Nino and Yasmina find themselves drawn together by a magnetic relationship. As they face an impossible choice between love and survival, they must decide if they want to build a family and chart a path to happiness in Lebanon, despite the tragedies ravaging the country.

2025 A Sad and Beautiful World
2023 Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano (doc)
2020 Beating Hearts (short, doc)
2018 The Swing (doc)
2017 The President’s Visit (short)
2013 Siham (short)

“A Sad and Beautiful World follows Nino and Yasmina, whose relationship echoes Lebanon’s constant swing between hope and despair. As the country cycles through prosperity and devastation, the lovers grapple with romance, harsh reality, and the timeless question of bringing children into an uncertain world. Nino clings to a nostalgic vision of Lebanon’s past, while Yasmina represents escape, reinvention, and a future elsewhere. Together, they confront broken dreams and buried wounds, learning how to build something lasting through love and trust. In Lebanon’s perpetual crises, I’ve seen how humor and love become shields against darkness. This film embraces that uniquely Lebanese humor while exploring deeper themes of parenthood and legacy. During filming, as yet another major war unfolded in Lebanon, my son was born thousands of miles away, a fateful event that crystallized my belief that in the face of chaos, it is our love for one another that carries us forward.” (Cyril Aris)

Cyril Aris is a Lebanese director, screenwriter, and member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. His feature documentary Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano (2023), a Sundance Institute grant recipient, premiered in the main competition at Karlovy Vary, where it received a Special Jury Mention. The film went on to screen at over 80 international festivals, including BFI London, CPH:DOX, and DOC NYC, winning awards in Rotterdam, Valencia, Rome, San Francisco, Marseille, and beyond. His first feature documentary, The Swing (2018), also premiered at Karlovy Vary and earned multiple awards across Europe and the Arab world. He holds an MFA from Columbia University and also works as an editor, with credits that include Costa Brava, Lebanon (2021) by Mounia Akl, which premiered in the Orizzonti section at the Venice Film Festival. Akl herself is the star of Aris’ first feature film, A Sad and Beautiful World.