"1982" is a life-affirming coming-of-age tale set at an
idyllic school in Lebanon’s mountains on the eve of a looming invasion. It
unfolds over a single day and follows an 11-year-old boy’s relentless quest to
profess his love to a girl in his class. As the invasion encroaches on Beirut,
it upends the day, threatening the entire country and its cohesion. Within the
microcosm of the school, the film draws a harrowing portrait of a society torn
between its desire for love and peace and the ideological schisms unraveling
its seams. In his debut feature,
writer / director Oualid Mouaness delivers an ode to innocence in
which he revisits one of the most cataclysmic moments in Lebanon's history through
the lens of a child and his vibrant imagination. The film demonstrates the
complexities of love and war, and the resilience of the human spirit.
Told with historic precision, the film won the Cannes Film
Festival’s youth sidebar prize PRIX CANNES ECRANS JUNIORS 2021 (Cannes
Cinéphiles) and the Toronto International Film Festival’s NETPAC AWARD. It also holds a FIPRESCI International
Critics Prize and the UNICEF 2021 Prize. 1982 was Lebanon’s Official selection
for the 92nd Academy Awards. It also hold the MUREX D’OR (Golden
Murex) Lebanon’s top honor for Best Feature Film for the years 2019-2021.
“1982” is the first film from Lebanon to address
the polemic and politically sensitive 1982 Lebanon War.
