Built from old-fashioned sensibilities that serve as both assets and deficits, Oualid Mouaness’ empathetic “1982” feels as though it could have been made during the titular year in which it’s set.
Mouaness’ time-honored approach is to contrast the sweetness of a first crush with the ageless shock of lost innocence. His hero is 11-year-old Wissam (Mohamad Dalli), a student at a Quaker school in the Lebanese mountains above Beirut. As the day begins, Wissam is determined to express his long-hidden feelings for classmate Joanna (Gia Madi). But he still has several obstacles to overcome, including his own shyness, the disapproval of adults around him, and the fact that Joanna’s best friend Abir (Lelya Harkous) is the class tattletale.
There’s also the fact that his imminent announcement has coincided with the start of the 1982 Israel-Lebanon War. For most of the day, the kids don’t even notice the ominous rumblings outside and overhead.
Mouaness’ time-honored approach is to contrast the sweetness of a first crush with the ageless shock of lost innocence. His hero is 11-year-old Wissam (Mohamad Dalli), a student at a Quaker school in the Lebanese mountains above Beirut. As the day begins, Wissam is determined to express his long-hidden feelings for classmate Joanna (Gia Madi). But he still has several obstacles to overcome, including his own shyness, the disapproval of adults around him, and the fact that Joanna’s best friend Abir (Lelya Harkous) is the class tattletale.
There’s also the fact that his imminent announcement has coincided with the start of the 1982 Israel-Lebanon War. For most of the day, the kids don’t even notice the ominous rumblings outside and overhead.
- 6/9/2022
- by Elizabeth Weitzman
- The Wrap
Mohamad Dalli as Wissam. Oualid Mouaness on working with the young cast: 'I wanted to empower them to assess what felt real for them and what didn't and to use this as their own guide to creating the characters' It’s more than two years since 1982 had its world premiere at Toronto Film Festival but, after the disruption of Covid, Oualid Mouaness’ tale of puppy love against the gathering clouds of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon is finally being released in US cinemas on June 10.
Although it has been a long wait for the Lebanese-American filmmaker, he’s philosophical about it and says it has allowed the film to have another life away from the spotlight.
“What was interesting is that its festival life did not stop,” he says “And suddenly, it was adopted in schools. The film was being shared in schools, as I was in Beirut, doing Zoom...
Although it has been a long wait for the Lebanese-American filmmaker, he’s philosophical about it and says it has allowed the film to have another life away from the spotlight.
“What was interesting is that its festival life did not stop,” he says “And suddenly, it was adopted in schools. The film was being shared in schools, as I was in Beirut, doing Zoom...
- 5/26/2022
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Exclusive: LA-based Tricycle Logic has set a U.S. theatrical release for Lebanese director Oualid Mouaness’ debut feature, 1982. The coming-of-age drama premiered at the 2019 Toronto Film Festival where it won the Netpac Award. It will release domestically beginning June 10 at the Quad Cinema in New York and on June 24 will expand to Los Angeles with a national rollout to follow throughout the summer. The New York date coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Lebanon war on June 6. (Check out the trailer below.)
The story is 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...
The story is 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...
- 5/11/2022
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
"Distinct and powerful filmmaking." Utopia has released a new US trailer for a film from Lebanon titled 1982, which is Lebanon's submission for Best International Film at the 2020 Academy Awards. Inspired by director Oualid Mouaness' own boyhood memories of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, 1982 revisits a dark moment in Lebanese history in a unique way. At a private school on the outskirts of Beirut, as the conflict inches closer, 11-year-old Wissam (Mohamad Dalli) is trying to find the courage to tell his classmate he loves her. But for his teachers, Yesmine (Nadine Labaki) and Joseph (Rodrigue Sleiman), the fighter jets signal an ominous future. "Mouaness' 1982 manages to capture the beauty and innocence of childhood's first blush of love amidst the backdrop of a traumatic war ripping apart the city of Beirut. It is a quietly impactful film that resounds long after viewing, and Utopia is thrilled to be bringing it to US audiences.
- 1/8/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Exclusive: Nadine Labaki starrer 1982, Lebanon’s International Oscar hopeful two years ago, has been picked up for North American distribution by Utopia Media.
The feature debut by Oualid Mouaness, inspired by the director’s boyhood memories of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, revisits a dark moment in Lebanese history through a different lens. At a private school on the outskirts of Beirut, as the conflict inches closer, 11-year-old Wissam (Mohamad Dalli) is trying to find the courage to tell his classmate he loves her. But for his teachers, Yesmine (Capernaum director Labaki) and Joseph (Rodrigue Sleiman), the jets in the sky signal a more ominous time.
Winner of the Toronto International Film Festival 2019 Netpac Prize, the film is due to be released on VOD platforms from January 19, 2021.
Pic was produced by Tricycle Logic, Mad Dog Films and Abbout Productions, and co-produced by Norway’s Barentsfilm in association with Boo Pictures,...
The feature debut by Oualid Mouaness, inspired by the director’s boyhood memories of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, revisits a dark moment in Lebanese history through a different lens. At a private school on the outskirts of Beirut, as the conflict inches closer, 11-year-old Wissam (Mohamad Dalli) is trying to find the courage to tell his classmate he loves her. But for his teachers, Yesmine (Capernaum director Labaki) and Joseph (Rodrigue Sleiman), the jets in the sky signal a more ominous time.
Winner of the Toronto International Film Festival 2019 Netpac Prize, the film is due to be released on VOD platforms from January 19, 2021.
Pic was produced by Tricycle Logic, Mad Dog Films and Abbout Productions, and co-produced by Norway’s Barentsfilm in association with Boo Pictures,...
- 1/6/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Director Oualid Mouaness’ enriching use of images and sensitivity to narrative balance outweigh his unexceptional dialogue in “1982.” Even with such a caveat, his debut feature succeeds in accessing emotional truths that leave a lingering bittersweet melancholy. Based on his schoolboy memories of the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the film is set on the last day of classes in an elementary school, integrating unremarkable childhood behavior with the ever-growing apprehensions of teachers and administrators as the rumble of war planes makes it impossible to protect the kids from the worsening situation.
accruing since its Toronto Film Festival premiere. If promoted properly, pushing its bona fides as Lebanon’s Oscar entry while underlining Nadine Labaki’s presence as star, “1982” could see boutique-size international distribution.
Despite the deteriorating situation in southern Lebanon, the staff of an Anglophone school on the Beirut outskirts do their best to get the pupils through their final day of exams.
accruing since its Toronto Film Festival premiere. If promoted properly, pushing its bona fides as Lebanon’s Oscar entry while underlining Nadine Labaki’s presence as star, “1982” could see boutique-size international distribution.
Despite the deteriorating situation in southern Lebanon, the staff of an Anglophone school on the Beirut outskirts do their best to get the pupils through their final day of exams.
- 12/16/2019
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
A particularly fond look at a boy who is in love for the first time opens our eyes to see how affairs of the heart take precedence over all other events.This Official Submission for the Best International Feature Film Academy Award® had its U.S. premiere at the Asian World Film Festival where it won the Audience Award. It also won the Fipresci International Critics Prize at El Gouna Film Festival. Its world premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival garnered the Netpac Award, the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema, a worldwide organization of 29 member countries, created as the result of a conference on Asian cinema organized in New Delhi in 1990 with the support of Unesco, Paris.Gia Madi as Joana and Mohamad Dalli as Wissam
The film, which stars Lebanese actress and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Nadine Labaki, revolves around a boy who is anxious about winning over a school crush.
The film, which stars Lebanese actress and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Nadine Labaki, revolves around a boy who is anxious about winning over a school crush.
- 11/17/2019
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The Rome Film Festival (October 17-27) has unveiled its 2019 official selection, which includes Downton Abbey, Waves, Judy, The Aeronauts, Hustlers and Werner Herzog documentary Nomad[/link] about writer Bruce Chatwin.
A total of 33 films and documentaries will play in the official lineup (full list below). As previously announced, the fest will open with Edward Norton’s Motherless Brooklyn while Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman will have a centerpiece screening. Only two Italian movies are included in the main selection.
The festival also revealed a pre-opening October 16 world premiere for John Turturro’s anticipated The Big Lebowski spinoff, The Jesus Rolls, which follows Lebowski character Jesus Quintana.
The impressive lineup of onstage interviews includes Bill Murray and Viola Davis – both of whom will receive lifetime achievement awards – Fanny Ardant, Olivier Assayas, Ethan Coen, Benicio Del Toro, Bret Easton Ellis, Ron Howard, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Edward Norton, Bertrand Tavernier, John Travolta and Jia Zhangke.
A total of 33 films and documentaries will play in the official lineup (full list below). As previously announced, the fest will open with Edward Norton’s Motherless Brooklyn while Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman will have a centerpiece screening. Only two Italian movies are included in the main selection.
The festival also revealed a pre-opening October 16 world premiere for John Turturro’s anticipated The Big Lebowski spinoff, The Jesus Rolls, which follows Lebowski character Jesus Quintana.
The impressive lineup of onstage interviews includes Bill Murray and Viola Davis – both of whom will receive lifetime achievement awards – Fanny Ardant, Olivier Assayas, Ethan Coen, Benicio Del Toro, Bret Easton Ellis, Ron Howard, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Edward Norton, Bertrand Tavernier, John Travolta and Jia Zhangke.
- 10/4/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Before 2007, all Lebanese men were conscripted to serve in the military for at least one year. I’ve heard from multiple people that it wasn’t a question of citizenship, but ethnicity. If I ever visited before that year, I wouldn’t have been able to return to America without fulfilling that obligation. Whether or not this was actually true—I’m not certain. But even if it wasn’t, all the children born there during a lengthy civil war against Syrian occupation and an eventual Israeli invasion would. So it’s not enough to just watch Oualid Mouaness’ 1982 as a portrayal of futility. Beyond living through a reality that your home was under siege by two foreign parties, many of these kids would be forced to join the fight as well.
It’s crazy to think this truth manifests overnight, but that’s exactly how wars of this nature start.
It’s crazy to think this truth manifests overnight, but that’s exactly how wars of this nature start.
- 9/8/2019
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Oualid Mouaness’ drama joins Sophie Deraspe’s Contemporary World Cinema entry Antigone on Tiff slate.
Anick Poirier and Lorne Price’s new sales agency WaZabi Films has announced its first acquisition, picking up the majority of worldwide rights to Lebanon-set 1982 starring Nadine Labaki ahead of its world premiere in Tiff Discovery next month.
Oualid Mouaness’ feature debut takes place against the backdrop of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon and is set at a private school on the outskirts of Beirut, as 11-year-old Wissam tries to tell a classmate he loves her.
Meanwhile his teachers – on different sides of the political spectrum...
Anick Poirier and Lorne Price’s new sales agency WaZabi Films has announced its first acquisition, picking up the majority of worldwide rights to Lebanon-set 1982 starring Nadine Labaki ahead of its world premiere in Tiff Discovery next month.
Oualid Mouaness’ feature debut takes place against the backdrop of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon and is set at a private school on the outskirts of Beirut, as 11-year-old Wissam tries to tell a classmate he loves her.
Meanwhile his teachers – on different sides of the political spectrum...
- 8/16/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.