Interview: Mounia Akl – Hold Me (If You Want) (Work in Progress)

Exploring the intimate intersections of family, memory, and social constraint, often focusing on characters caught between personal desire and inherited structures, we first met with Lebanese filmmaker Mounia Akl back with Venice and Toronto Intl. Film Festival selected Costa Brava, Lebanon (2021). Having worked in television (including the recent House of Guinness) and acting in front of the camera in Cyril Aris’ A Sad and Beautiful World, Akl has been in prep mode with what will become her sophomore project in Hold Me (If You Want) – which was a recent winner at the TorinoFilmLab and was invited to the Marrakech Film Festival’s Atlas Workshops. I had the chance to meet up with Mounia Akl to discuss her latest project in terms of scope, narrative and future timeline. The project follows a woman estranged from herself in a hyper-normal world she has built to survive Lebanon’s ongoing crises, using humor, resilience, and denial as shields for a portrait that might dive into mental health and trauma.