Lebanon Selects ‘A Sad and Beautiful World’ for Oscar for Best International Feature Film

Lebanon has picked A Sad and Beautiful World (Arabic: نجوم الأمل و الألم), written and directed by Cyril Aris, as its Oscars entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards.

A Sad and Beautiful World is a romantic comedy-drama tracing three decades of love, loss, and longing in Beirut. It follows Yasmina (Mounia Akl) and Nino (Hasan Akil), childhood friends whose lives drift apart and then drift back together in adulthood. Their relationship unfolds against repeated cycles of political unrest and social instability.

Also starring in the movie are Julia Kassar, Camille Salameh, Tino Karam, Anthony Karam, and Nadyn Chalhoub.

The film premiered in the Giornate degli Autori section (Venice Days) of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival where, it won the People’s Choice Award. It went on to screen at other festivals, including the BFI London Film Festival.

“A Sad and Beautiful World follows Nino and Yasmina, whose relationship echoes Lebanon’s constant swing between hope and despair. As the country cycles through prosperity and devastation, the lovers grapple with romance, harsh reality, and the timeless question of bringing children into an uncertain world. Nino clings to a nostalgic vision of Lebanon’s past, while Yasmina represents escape, reinvention, and a future elsewhere. Together, they confront broken dreams and buried wounds, learning how to build something lasting through love and trust. In Lebanon’s perpetual crises, I’ve seen how humor and love become shields against darkness. This film embraces that uniquely Lebanese humor while exploring deeper themes of parenthood and legacy. During filming, as yet another major war unfolded in Lebanon, my son was born thousands of miles away, a fateful event that crystallized my belief that in the face of chaos, it is our love for one another that carries us forward.” (Cyril Aris)

In an interview, Aris has said that Lebanon constantly swings between prosperity and devastation, and that the rhythm of this oscillation “felt essential to the film because it reflects how I and many Lebanese had grown up and currently live: constantly oscillating between hope and despair … the heartbeat of Lebanon’s cycles seeps into daily life…”