Submarine by Mounia Akl Screens at the Toronto International Film Festival

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After its World Premiere at the Cannes International Film Festival

Submarine by Mounia Akl Screens at the Toronto International Film Festival


The short film Submarine by Lebanese director and writer Mounia Akl will take part at the 41st Toronto International Film Festival (September 8-18, 2016) marking the film's North American premiere. The film had its world premiere at the 69th Cannes Film Festival.

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.

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.

Garbage crisis in Lebanon has raised global public opinion during the past year after the Lebanese people have protested extensively as the garbage crisis worsens with no proper solution found over the years. Protesters call for a solution to garbage crisis which has left Lebanon's streets filled with garbage causing environmental pollution.

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 pre-production, that has been awarded a Katharina Otto-Bernstein Film Fund award, and a Doha Film Institute Production Grant.

Screening Times of Submarine at the 41st Toronto International Film Festival (GMT -4)
Sunday, the 11th of September at 07:00 pm in Scotiabank 13
Monday, the 12th of September at 09:30 pm in Scotiabank 5
Friday, the 16th of September at 03:00 pm in Scotiabank 14