release date November 04 2024
Daniela Stephan’s THE SUN SETS ON BEIRUT to screen at 28th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur Festival in Switzerland
Daniela Stephan’s THE SUN SETS ON BEIRUT, a short film on the aftermath of the 2020 Beirut Blast, is set to make an appearance at the 28th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur in Switzerland, which will run from November 5th to the 10th.
The film is set to screen at the Maxx 6 venue, 3PM, on the 11th of November.
Notably, the Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur Festival acts as a prerequisite qualifier for entries to the Oscars, BAFTAs, and EFAs.
The story follows Mounia, searching for her lost cat amongst the ruins left in the wake of the 2020 Beirut port explosion. Joined by her best friend Ghady, who is more interested in flirting with a British journalist, they navigate the remnants of their city on a quest to recover what's been lost.
Speaking on her short film, Stephan stated “On August 4th, 2020, a part of me died, both as a person and as a director. The explosion of the strongest ever non-nuclear bomb — in the heart of Beirut — devastated the city; leaving millions homeless, claiming the lives of 400 people, and injuring thousands. The socio-political climate had been charged with so much corruption and uncertainty that somehow the explosion of August 4th didn’t come as a complete surprise. It felt like a moment that we had been anxiously dreading for so many years.”
THE SUN SETS ON BEIRUT world premiered at the InterFilm Berlin Short Film Festival and opened for the 2023 Tripoli Film Festival. It has already screened at over a dozen prestigious film festivals, winning four awards, including Best Student Film at the Olhares do Mediterraneo International Women's Film Festival, Grand Prize and Jury Special Mention at Les Nuits Mediterraneennes du Court Métrage, and the Audience Vote Award at the Beirut International Women's Film Festival.
Besides Lebanese actress and singer Marilyn Naaman, who starred in France’s THE VOICE in 2023 and headlined the feature film MOTHER VALLEY, for which she won Best Actress at the Amman International Film Festival, the cast includes Pio Chihane, Jo McGarry and Salma Chalaby.
With MAD Distribution handling distribution in the MENA region and MAD World international sales, the film is a joint production between Lebanon and the UK, involving production companies London Film School and Sky Lantern Productions, and captured by Fatma Racha Shehadeh’s camera.
Daniela Stephan is an accomplished writer-director and editor born in Beirut, Lebanon. From an early age, she immersed herself in the world of writing and storytelling. Her passion led her to pursue a degree in Cinema at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts, refining her craft at the London Film School in the UK.
Her short MUMMY BLUE earned her the prestigious title of Best Female Director at the Tokyo International Short Film Festival in 2022.
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