Interview: Mounia Akl – Costa Brava, Lebanon

Arriving at TIFF after having premiered at the Venice Film Festival, first-time Lebanese filmmaker Mounia Akl who actually penned the screenplay with Clara Roquet and is premiering only months apart from Roquet’s launch of Libertad in the Cannes’ Critics’ Week  section. Akl explores the perplexing psyche of country via a family collective — tension really does exist a bit everywhere …even in safe spaces.

Costa Brava, Lebanon was developed during the Cannes’ Cinéfondation Residency and took part of the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriters and Director’s Labs and comes we a lot of support. The notion of support is at the heart of this dramatic text – one that isolates its characters and demonstrates how the family is a strong or stronger when civil disobedience is what is for dinner. I had the chance to sit down with the filmmaker (apologies for the rough cuts) to discuss the creation of the Badri family and actor Nadine Labaki and Saleh Bakri’s input in the film.