$12 / $8 Members
1982
Buy Tickets Become a Member for Discount Pricing

In June of 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon, a country just north of its border was already reeling from its ongoing fractious war.  In this feature debut, director Oualid Mouaness revisits this cataclysmic moment in Lebanese history through a different lens: a kid's point-of-view at a quaker school on the outskirts of Beirut.  As the geopolitical conflict inches closer and closer, 11-year-old Wissam (Mohamad Dalli) is more intent on finding the courage to tell his classmate that he loves her.  For a dreamer like Wissam, who is more likely to be drawing than playing football, it's hard to comprehend the gravity of the impending violence.  But for his teachers, Yesmine and Josep, the jets in the sky signal something far more dangerous.  As they try to mask their growing fears for the sake of the students, they also attempt to hide the fractures in their relationship. They fall on different sides of the political divide and look for a way to reconcile a relationship that seems irreconcilable due the nature of the war besieging the country they love.

Mouaness, who also wrote the script, splits the film between two perspectives; that of the adults and that of the children. The result is a layered script that delicately explores the social schisms and the complexities of love and war. In this life-affirming tale of resilience in which political and sectarian divides are challenged, love trumps war.  A peace of sorts can be imagined if people are brave enough to look past their differences. '1982' is the first film from Lebanon to address the polemic 1982 war. The only way to a better and just future is through a profound human understanding of our past.  

LEBANON’S OFFICIAL ENTRY FOR THE ACADEMY AWARDS 2020: BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

LEBANON’S SUBMISSION FOR THE GOLDEN GLOBES® 2020: BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

3 day rental • NR • 100 min. • Arabic & English with subtitles


“Succeeds in accessing emotional truths that leave a lingering bittersweet melancholy.“
Variety

“A sensitive slice-of-life drama.”
— RogerEbert.com