The film was supported by CNC, Corsica Region, Doha Film Institute, Red Sea Fund, Italy’s Ministry of Culture, Fonds Image de la Francophonie and MEDIA.
Lebanese film Dirty Difficult Dangerous, by French-Lebanese director Wissam Charaf, received a standing ovation at the 2022 Red Sea International Film Festival, where it competed in the festival’s Main Competition.
The film had full-house screenings, with some media outlets dubbing the protagonist Ziad Jallad “the new Omar El-Sherif.”
The first screening was followed by a press conference with the filmmakers, and a Q&A session was held after the second one after the film’s critical success at the festival.
The film’s director Wissam Charaf, as well as members of the cast Clara Couturet and Ziad Jallad, along with producers Pierre Sarraf, Katia Khazak, Marco Valerio Fusco, as well as renowned director Soudade Kaadan were present at the screenings.
Panos Kotzathanasis from the Asian Movie Pulse, said: “Clara Couturet as Mehdea and Ziad Jallad as Ahmed give great performances, with Charaf focusing on their looks and reactions rather than their words in an intensely laconic approach that works excellently for the narrative while highlighting their evident chemistry.”
“Wissam Charaf manages a truly difficult feat, with his film presenting two rather serious issues through an approach that is occasionally hilarious without thought stripping the subjects from their significance nor hiding the despair both involve,” added Kotzathanasis.
Kaleem Aftab from Screen Daily described Ziad Jallad’s performance and added: “Despite being something of a late starter, the actor’s chameleon-like qualities and ability to play a manner of different characters from various backgrounds is likely to see him become a cinematic fixture.”
The film follows Ahmed — a Syrian refugee roaming the streets of Beirut searching for metal objects to be recycled — who thought he’d find love with Mehdia, an Ethiopian expat. However, in this city, such a story seems almost impossible.
Will the couple be able to reclaim their freedom despite Ahmed’s body slowly turning to metal due to a mysterious illness?
Previously, the film opened the 19th Giornate degli Autori (GdA) — a parallel section held on the sidelines of the Venice International Film Festival — and won the 2022 Europa Cinemas Label Award for Best European Film at the 79th Venice International Film Festival, which ran from August 31st to September 10th.
Directed by Wissam Charaf — who co-wrote it with Hala Dabaji and Mariette Désert — the film stars Clara Couturet, Ziad Jallad, Rifaat Tarabay, and Darina Al-Joundi.
It is produced by Aurora Films, Né à Beyrouth Films, and Intramovies. Meanwhile, MAD Solutions is managing the film’s distribution in the Arab world, JHR Films in France, and Intramovies internationally.
