Lebanon’s ‘A Sad and Beautiful World’ by Cyril Aris 2026 Oscar Submission Best International Feature

When I started watching A Sad and Beautiful World the first time, I shut it off after the first 20 minutes, thinking it was a broad rom-com of two childhood sweethearts who meet again after 20 years…she now a very efficient attorney and he a wild and crazy restaurant owner.

But people told me that was not was the movie was about and so I went to a proper screening and watched it with an audience. It is a sad and beautiful story of a couple who love each other very much and bring up a child in Lebanon, always war-torn, always corrupt, always shutting off service and monies to the people, closing banks, not caring.

The story in a nutshell: Across three decades, Nino and Yasmina are bound by a magnetic relationship. Torn between love and survival, they must decide whether to build a family in Lebanon, or leave their home amid the country’s unfolding tragedies.

It takes many participants to create these international films which come from the heart and reach the hearts of the too-small audiences which are lucky enough to see them. In this case the Lebanese production company Abbout, German production company Reynard Films and US’s Diversity Hire had support from minority producers in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Financial support came from from Doha Film Institute, Red Sea Film Fund, The Atlas Workshops, Fondation Liban Cinéma, Fonds Images de la Francophonie, Visions Sud Est, three local German film funds: Sächsische Landesmedienanstalt (SLM), Hessen Film & Medien, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM). Other minority producers include Faliro House Productions, Film Manufacturers, Giant Leap Media, Sultan Productions, Sunny Land Film and Tin Clam Productions.

It is so rare to find US private equity for international cinema that it is worth noting who Diversity Hire Ltd. is. Based out of Los Angeles, California this film and television production company was founded by WGA award-winning writer/producer April Shih and her producing partner Jen Goyne Blake, formerly the founding director of Episodic Labs at the Sundance Institute. They have a television production overall deal at FX Productions and are in development of a dozen television projects. They also produced Joyland, a 2022 Festival de Cannes Official Selection.

The film premiered in Venice where it won the People’s Choice Award in the Giornate Degli Autori section, and went on to play at Mediterranean Film Festival of Montpellier (CINÉMED), France where it won the Best Music Award & Youth Jury Award for Best Film, Athens FF in Greece, Hamburg in Germany where it won the Best Co-Producers’ Award, BFI London in UK, Sao Paulo in Brazil, Valladolid in Spain where it won the Audience Award, Ljubljana in Slovenia, Red Sea in Saudi Arabia, Marrakech in Morocco, MedFilm Festival in Rome — Jury Prize & University Jury Prize for Best Film, Middle East Now Florence — Audience Award, Bastia Arte Mare Festival — Grand Prize.

It can still be seen in the Palm Springs International Film Festival January 2–12, 2026. Take the trip; it is a great festival filled with the international submissions for Oscars and with celebrities relaxing in the sun as their films and they are feted.

International sales agent Paradise City has licensed the film to Austria and Germany-Neue Visionen, Egypt-ART-Sunnyland Film, France-UFO; Spain-Adso; Switzerland-trigon; Taiwan-Sky Digi; Turkey-Bir

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