Director Mounia Akl's Short Film Submarine Contends at Dubai International Film Festival

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Marking the Film's Arab World Premiere

Director Mounia Akl's Short Film Submarine Contends at Dubai International Film Festival


Heralding its Arab world premiere, director Mounia Akl's short film, Submarine, will compete at the 13th Dubai International Film Festival (7 - 14 December) within the Muhr Short competition. Along with Mounia Akl, the film's screening at the festival will be attended by producer Cyril Aris and the film's lead actress Yumna Marwan. The film's teaser trailer was released simultaneously with the festival's opening ceremony.

Under the imminent threat of Lebanon's garbage crisis, Hala, a wild child inside of a woman is the only one to refuse evacuation, clinging to whatever remains of home.

Produced by Cyril Aris and Jinane Chaaya, and distributed by MAD Solutions in the Arab world, Submarine stars Yumna Marwan, Julian Farhat, and Adel Chahine. Submarine was awarded the James Bridges production grant, and will be made into a feature film that Mounia Akl is currently writing, and is set to be completed soon.

Thefilm's world premiere was held during the latest edition of the Cannes Film Festival and it also participated in the41st Toronto International Film Festival,in addition to over 15 international festivals around the world.

Mounia Akl is a Lebanese director and writer. She holds an MFA Directing and Screenwriting from Columbia University in New York. She is best known for her TV/web-series Beirut, I Love You (I Love You Not) which made a huge success and marked a large number of YouTube views. In 2015, Akl co-founded Breaking Wave Pictures with 7 MFA film students at Columbia University. Her previous work includes many award-winning short films like Christine, EVA, Anoesis, and Fasateen web series, produced by Yahoo. Mounia Akl has recently finished the editing of the award-winning Spanish film El Adios. Mounia also co-wrote the short film The President's Visit, currently in post-production, that has been awarded a Katharina Otto-Bernstein Film Fund award, and a Doha Film Institute Production Grant.

DIFF is one of the most important film festivals in the Arab world. In each edition, DIFF showcases over 120 features, shorts films and documentaries from around the world and will include several world premieres. Every year DIFF presents new and exciting cinema from the Arab world and beyond, introducing audiences to fresh, new talent and original and distinctive filmmaking.

Screening Times of the Short Film Submarine at the Dubai International Film Festival (GMT+4)
Sunday, December 11 at 9:45 pm, VOX 06 Cinema, Mall of the Emirates
Tuesday, December 13 at 2:45 pm, VOX 17 Cinema, Mall of the Emirates