A family escapes toxic Beirut for the idyllic countryside in this heartfelt, politically charged debut set in a near-future Lebanon.

Fed up with the noxious pollution and garbage-infested streets of Lebanon’s capital – not to mention the government’s thoughtless neglect – eccentric couple Soraya (played by acclaimed director Nadine Labaki, Capharnaüm, MIFF 2018) and Walid (Saleh Bakri, Wajib, MIFF 2018, and also starring in MIFF 70 film The Blue Caftan) decide to relocate to the mountains overlooking the city. There, they hope to eke out an alternative, renewable lifestyle with their daughters and Walid’s mother: growing vegetables, raising chickens, decidedly off-grid. But their would-be utopia is upended when authorities zone a landfill next to their pastoral retreat – and a tense battle ensues.

Shot mere months after the devastating Beirut Port blast of 2020, Costa Brava, Lebanon is Mounia Akl’s emotionally affecting feature debut, co-written with Spanish director Clara Roquet (Libertad, originally slated for MIFF 2021). Winner of London’s Audience Award and Toronto’s NETPAC Award, it ingeniously distils one nation’s sociopolitical turmoil and the world’s encompassing environmental dilemmas into the intimate struggles of one displaced, endearingly plucky family.

“A terrific feature debut from Mounia Akl which works both as a compelling domestic drama and an elegant political allegory.” – Screen Daily