Utopia Media, the film distribution company whose titles include the official Sundance 2020 selection Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets, has acquired the North American rights to the multiple award-winning Lebanese drama film 1982– a story of a boyhood crush, childhood imagination, and a nation at war. The film is the brainchild of writer, director, and producer Oualid Mouaness, and stars celebrated actor and director Nadine Labaki.
Inspired by the director’s boyhood memories of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, 1982 revisits a cataclysmic moment in Lebanese history through a different lens. At a private school on the outskirts of Beirut, as the geopolitical conflict inches closer and closer, 11-year-old Wissam (Mohamad Dalli) is more intent on finding the courage to tell his classmate he loves her. For a dreamer like Wissam, who is more likely to be drawing than playing football, it’s hard to comprehend the gravity of the impending violence. But for his teachers, Yesmine (Nadine Labaki) and Joseph (Rodrigue Sleiman), the jets in the sky signal something greater. As they try to mask their growing fears for the sake of the students, they also attempt to hide the fractures in their relationship, as they fall on different sides of the political divide. Mouaness, who also wrote the script, splits the film between these two perspectives; that of the adults and that of the children, to explore the complexities of love and war.
‘1982 manages to capture the beauty and innocence of childhood’s first blush of love amidst the backdrop of a traumatic war ripping apart the city of Beirut. It is a quietly impactful film that resounds long after viewing, and Utopia is thrilled to be bringing it to U.S. audiences.” says Danielle DiGiacamo, Head of Content for Utopia.
The film was produced by Tricycle Logic, Mad Dog Films, and Abbout Productions, and co-produced by Norway’s Barentsfilm in association with Boo Pictures, Soapbox Films, and Old Mill Ventures, with the support of the Doha Film Institute, Sørfond+ and the International Organisation of La Francophonie’s Image de la Francophonie fund.
The winner of the Toronto International Film Festival 2019 NETPAC Prize and Lebanon’s Entry for Best Foreign-Language Film for the Academy Awards 2020, 1982 has screened at festivals around the world to critical acclaim and will release nationwide on VOD platforms on Tuesday, January 19th, 2021, courtesy of Utopia.
Images, provided by SicilyPublicity
About Author
