Samir Syriani (b. 1989) is a Lebanese film director and screenwriter known for blending striking visuals with insightful storytelling. He graduated with a full scholarship and gained early recognition for his award-winning student film "To Baalbek", which was screened at over 15 international and local festivals. His career flourished through directing acclaimed music videos, earning multiple Best Music Video awards, and creating TV campaigns for global brands. In 2019, he completed his Masters' Degree short film "Contact", which premiered internationally at the 49th Tampere Film Festival, earning multiple awards and worldwide festival selections, including Best National Film at BMFF. In 2024, he completed "What If They Bomb Here Tonight? ", a short film he directed, co-wrote, and co-acted in, set to premiere at the 47th Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival in 2025. Beyond filmmaking, Samir is a university professor, mentor to young filmmakers, and a devoted father of two daughters – his favorite, most time-consuming, job.

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Director : Samir Syriani | Screenplay : Samir Syriani, Nadine Chalhoub Syriani | Producers : Nicolas Khabbaz | Director of photography : Pierre Mouarkech | Sound recording : Bassam Lebbos | Sound Mix : Cedric Kayem | Editing : Desirée Abou Jaoude | Music Composer : Cedric kayem | Actors: Samir Syriani, Nadine Chalhoub Syriani

Farah Nabulsi is a Palestinian-British Oscar-nominated and BAFTA®-winning filmmaker and human rights advocate.

She is the daughter of Palestinians who were fortunate enough to make a home in 1970's Britain — unlike the millions who continue to remain stateless in refugee camps.

Born, raised and educated in London, Farah began her career as an institutional equity stockbroker. She ended up with a CFA designation at JP Morgan Chase before moving on to build a children-focused business that she ran for 10 years.

In 2015, Farah started working in the film industry. She founded a production company through which she writes, produces and directs fiction narrative films, exploring topics that matter to her. She also created a digital resource to deconstruct the Israeli military occupation of Palestine in a way never done before.

Darin J. Sallam is an award-winning Jordanian writer and director. She holds an MFA from the Red Sea Institute for Cinematic Arts (RSICA), affiliated with the University of Southern California. Her previous credits include 5 short films. 

Her critically acclaimed debut feature film FARHA (2021) premiered at Toronto International Film Festival and garnered numerous accolades, including a historic first win for Jordan at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, making Sallam the first Jordanian director ever to be awarded an APSA. FARHA also represented the Kingdom in the International Feature Film category at the 95th Academy Awards (Oscars) in 2023. 

Sallam is a Berlinale Talent, a Robert Bosch Film Prize recipient, an Asia Pacific Screen Academy member and a Film Independent Fellow. She was a jury member at international film festivals including the BAFTA-Yugo grant. Sallam is also co-founder & managing partner of the Amman-based production company TaleBox.

Recipient of King Abdullah II Bin Al-Hussein’s Order of Excellence Insignia, Sallam was also named among Variety’s Impactful International Women of 2023, received the IMEU (Institute of Middle East Understanding) Storyteller Award 2023 and is featured on the “Making their Mark” wall at the Museum of the Palestinian People in Washington DC. She is currently working on her next feature film, CHURCHING OF WOMEN.

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Producers: Deema Azar & Ayah Jardaneh

Cast: Karam Taher, Ashraf Barhom, Tala Gammoh, Ali Suleiman, Sameera Al-Asir, Majd Eid, Firas Taybeh

Alia Haju, a Brooklyn-based filmmaker and musician who grew up in South Lebanon until fleeing in 1994, and Lea Najjar, raised between Vienna and Beirut, bring their distinctive perspectives to Ship of Fools (2024). Haju studied conceptual arts at the American University of Beirut and is an award-winning filmmaker and published photo/video journalist, while Najjar, who received her Diploma in Documentary Directing from Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in 2021, won Best Documentary Film at the First Steps Awards for her earlier work.

Together, they have created an anima-doc that stitches together colorful and ragged fragments of Haju's personal life, chronicling her friendship with Abu Samra, a would-be superhero on the shores of Beirut. Blending intimate testimony with broader historical context, their collaboration explores resilience, displacement, and imagined resistance amid Lebanon's political upheaval, centering human stories within larger struggles for freedom and dignity. The film premiered at the Blackstar Film Festival and won the Special Jury Prize at the Clermont-Ferrand SFF Lab Competition.

Marie-Rose Osta is a Lebanese screenwriter and director working across film, series, and video essays.

Her latest short film Someday, a Child (2026) won the Golden Bear in Berlinale Shorts. Her previous short, Then Came Dark (2021), won the Special Jury Prize at the 43rd Cairo International Film Festival and was selected for the 22nd Biennial Sesc_Videobrasil. She also took part in collective, filmmaker-led projects, including Home Bitter Home (IFFR) and Letters (Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival), and is currently developing a video essay as part of the collective documentary-art project Trois Couleurs.

She is developing her debut feature Mina and her series Echoes. In 2024, she founded Les Flâneurs Films, an independent Paris-based studio supporting independent films and filmmakers.

Featuring Ali Jamil & Hussein Khalaf, Produced by Marie-Rose Osta & Mu’taz Salloum, Executive Producer: Mu’taz Salloum, Director of Photography: Marie-Rose Osta & Mu’taz Salloum, Sound Engineer: Wissam G. Tayyem, Editor: Marie-Rose Osta & Rakan Mayasi, Editing Consultant: Simon El Habre, Music: Subchamber Ensmble OONA, Sound Design & Mixing: Lama Sawaya, Foley Artist: Marita Sbeih, Color Grading: Sherine Senno, 2D artist: Liliya Helou & Mahmoud Korek, DIT finish: Mounir Al Mahmoud, Conforming:Leah Zouein, Poster: Peter Aoun, Written & Directed by Marie-Rose Osta

This film was shot in the Azer forest, Akkar, Lebanon

THANKS TO : Fnaydek of Municipality بلدية فنيدق/ عكار. محمية غابة العذر - Forest Azer, Dr. Mohamad Ali, المهندس عباس فؤاد سلوم, M.Abdhakim Ali Saiid, Soraya Lyan, Rana Eid DB Studios Beirut, Mahmoud Korek the postoffice, Khalil El Osta, Margo Khoury