A Sad and Beautiful World: How Cyril Aris turns Lebanon's turmoil into a story of love and resilience

After captivating hearts in Venice — where it won the Audience Award and went on to become Lebanon’s official Oscar entry — A Sad and Beautiful World makes its long-awaited UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on 11 October, continuing its remarkable journey from Beirut to the world stage.

Starring Mounia Akl as Yasmina and Hasan Akil as Nino, A Sad and Beautiful World tells the tale of a rekindled love against the backdrop of Lebanon’s turbulent social and political context. 

How can we preserve beauty in a world that tries to turn things ugly, and how do we hold hope for the future? These are the questions director Cyril Aris’s film poses to the viewer.

Born in Beirut in 1987, the Lebanese writer and director honed his craft across the United States and Europe, earning an MFA from Columbia University in New York and shaping his cinematic voice through work on a range of independent films, including The President’s Visit (2017), a fictional short film, as well as documentaries: The Swing (2018) and Dancing On The Edge Of A Volcano (2023). 

Stylistically, Cyril Aris’ films pay homage to the French New Wave cinematic era of the 1960s and Italian Neorealism, citing Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut as his main influences. “They brought cinema back to the authors; they were playful and anti-establishment,” he says. 

Continuing this thought, he discusses a particular scene in the film, where Yasmina and Nino run through the night's streets in a heartwarming moment.

“It has callbacks to the shots from The 400 Blows or Masculin Féminin, where the camera movement translates a high intensity of emotion and carries the energy of the protagonist or subject," Cyril tells The New Arab.

"I’m playing with the shutter speed to make it feel as if the whole world is pulsating to their feelings.”

In his soul, Cyril knew he needed to make films about his homeland. “What really draws me to storytelling is my relationship with Lebanon; we love this country and hate it at the same time. And we love the fact we hate it, and hate the fact that we love it.”

The art of revelation 

However, reality set in as missiles from Iran headed toward Israel during filming.

“When you look at it with a bit of perspective, it does seem quite crazy that you're out there on set, worrying about your little problems like a specific prop and you’re only a few kilometres from violence,” Cyril continues.  

Israeli threats against Lebanon of ‘turning Lebanon into a second Gaza’ put the production in jeopardy, with Cyril discussing with his producer whether the film could even be made. 

Despite the surrounding bleakness, he knew it was necessary to carry on with the film, “I believe creating art as naive and insignificant as it may seem, is a way of fighting back, proving our existence and re-asserting our culture,” Cyril said. 

Seeing human emotion on screen helps those outside the MENA/SWANA culture empathise with people in the region, rather than viewing them as “savages.”

The impact of Cyril Aris’ film did exactly this at the Hamburg, Germany screening.

Fatherhood, faith, and the fight to stay hopeful

Having first written the script in 2019, much transpired in Lebanon in the five years before production even began, including the revolution, the financial crisis, the port explosion, COVID-19, and Israeli aggression.

Cyril tells The New Arab that the film would have been entirely different had it been made in 2019. “At first, the film was more politically driven, but it evolved to become more humanistic, with the central question being whether it’s worth bringing children into this world. It had focused more on the characters having their individual visions for the country.”

Although Cyril had planned to wrap up four weeks before his son’s arrival, his baby was born prematurely as the final shot was being taken. Holding his son in his arms gave the Lebanese director renewed optimism — a belief that we can create a better world.

“While it seems easier to be pessimistic, the fight towards optimism is not just a noble fight but a duty to humanity,” the filmmaker shares. 

Building cinema through friendship

With a friendship in film that’s spanned more than fifteen years, Cyril instinctively knew when writing the character of Yasmina that only Mounia Akl could fill the role, even after trying out other actresses. 

“The character is aloof, and when you look into her eyes, you can see that there's a sparkle and there's a dreamer that's lying dormant within her. That contradiction is extremely hard to find, and Mounia has that talent to embody it,” he shares with The New Arab. 

Winning industry awards has been great, but winning it alongside friends like Mounia Akl, his DOP Joe Saade and the rest of his crew has made the journey even sweeter, Cyril says, adding, “It’s never felt like I’m working with ‘crew’, it’s just making films with a bunch of friends, I never took any of these relationships for granted.” 

He also laughs, saying that “we argue a lot over films and our opinions” and that he believes is where their bond lies: their shared love of cinema.

Lebanon’s story to London’s global stage

Ending the discussion, Cyril talks about his admiration for the UK arts scene. “London is well-versed and, as a cosmopolitan city, it leads to curiosity to seek out stories from across the globe and the Arab world,” he says. 

“The BFI has been generous with how they’ve received the film, and I want to thank them for championing these stories and showcasing high-quality stories from across the Arab world.”

As A Sad and Beautiful World arrives in London, Cyril Aris’s film serves as a thoughtful reminder to hold on to what is dear, even in times of uncertainty.

Tariq Manshi is a London-based freelance journalist. Previously, he served as the Middle East & North Africa correspondent for Bath Time Magazine and contributed as a football writer at From The Spot

Follow him on Instagram: @tarmansh