Films
Warsha
BLOCK A | Hopes & Dreams
Wednesday, March 22 | 7 - 9 PM
Winthrop University | Dina's Place at the DiGiorgio Campus Center
Screenings & Awards
Sundance Film Festival • IFFR Rotterdam • Clermont-Ferrand ISFF • European Premiere National Competition
Cast & Crew
NARRATIVE | 2021 | 15 min. 00 sec.
SUGGESTED RATING | PG-13
ELIGIBLE | Woman to Watch
COUNTRY | Lebanon, France
LANGUAGE | Arabic
PRODUCER | Coralie Dias
DIRECTOR | Dania Bdeir
WRITER | Dania Bdeir
CAST | Khansa
Synopsis
A Syrian migrant working as a crane operator in Beirut volunteers to cover a shift on one of the most dangerous cranes, where he is able to find his freedom.
About the Director
Dania Bdeir is a Lebanese-Canadian award-winning writer & director with an intense love/hate relationship with Lebanon which she finds to be her biggest heartache and sincerest inspiration.
Dania, currently a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective, has a BA in Graphic Design from the American University of Beirut and an MFA in directing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where she received a full scholarship in her third year.
Her pre-thesis film "Meshkal" (English title: Kaleidoscope), has traveled to film festivals in France, Morocco, Pakistan, Mexico, Czeck Republic, India and many more. It has won a few notable awards including Award of Excellence at the 2014 Canada International film festival and Golden Palm at the 2014 Mexico International Film Festival.
Her thesis film, “In White”, which received the Spike Lee Production Fund, had its world premiere at the renowned Clermont Ferrand film festival and went on to screen at the BFI London Film Festival, Uppsala International short film festival and more than 30 film festivals worldwide.
It has won a dozen awards including the International Grand Prize at the Rio de Janeiro International short film festival thus making it eligible for the 2019 Academy Awards in the short live-action category.
In 2019, Dania was selected as a Berlinale Talent and participated in its Short Film Station with her short film “Warsha.” "Warsha" is a co-production between Inter Spinas Films (France), GoGoGo Films (France) and Né à Beyrouth Films (Lebanon). The film has secured a pre-purchase broadcast deal with renowned European TV channel ARTE and as been supported by the CNC, the région Grand Est, the région Sud, the Métropole Aix-Marseille-Provence, the Sacem and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF).
Dania is currently based in Dubai and is developing her first feature film “Pigeon Wars” which was selected for the 2018-2019 Torino Film Lab x DFI Hezaya Screenwriting lab. Pigeon Wars was also selected for the 2021 Cine Qua Non Storylines lab and the 2021 Nostos Screenwriting Retreat.
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