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Back to list Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous

Director’s Profile

Wissam Charaf is a Lebanese/French director who, from 2004 to 2016, directed many short films, including Hizz Ya Wizz (2005), Army of Ants (2007) and After (2016), which were selected at various film festivals, including Locarno Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, and Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, among others. In 2011, he directed his first documentary, It’s All in Lebanon (2012), awarded the Bronze Tanit for Best Documentary at Carthage Film Festival 2012, and in 2016 he directed his first feature film, Heaven Sent (2016), which was selected in the ACID Program at Cannes Film Festival 2016.

Synopsis

Roaming the streets of Beirut searching for metal to be recycled, Ahmed, a Syrian refugee, thinks he’s found love with Mehdia, an Ethiopian domestic servant. But in this city, such a story seems almost impossible.

Mehdia is having a hard time. Old Ibrahim, her employer, whom she looks after, is going insane. His wife, Leila, can no longer cope at home.
Daily life in the house has become ridiculous, an absurd dialogue between the deaf, and when Leila’s son, Fadi, arrives from Dubai to visit his parents, things get even worse. Mehdia decides to run away with Ahmed.

It’s the start of an adventure that will take Ahmed and Mehdia to the Eastern border, where Ahmed’s family has taken refuge.

But, even there, everyday racism is commonplace. Ahmed’s mother, who considers Mehdia a threat to her plans for her son, also treats her no better than a housemaid. Disappointed, Ahmed and Mehdia take to the road again, back to Beirut, where one evening, the two lovers are forced to separate and take refuge in different places.

The next day, Ahmed discovers that the police have arrested Mehdia. She is to be sent back to Ethiopia by force, leaving Ahmed alone in Lebanon.

Achievements

2022 Venice Film Festival - Venice Days Opening Film, Europa Cinemas Label Best Film
2022 Hamburg Film Festival - Critics Award Special Mention
2022 Thessaloniki International Film Festival - In Competition
2022 Nantes Festival des 3 Continents
2022 Red Sea International Film Festival - In Competition
2022 Entrevues Belfort International Film Festival - Audience Award
2023 Palm Springs International Film Festival - Bridging the Borders Award
2023 Minneapolis St Paul International Film Festival
Released in France

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