“Skies of Lebanon,” is a heartbreaking story of love during wartime, and the directorial debut of the Lebanese-French filmmaker Chloe Mazlo, released in 2020 in France.
The film is inspired by Mazlo’s grandmother, which is reflected in the animation, creating a vivid picture of Lebanon.
Her grandmother, who is Swiss, settled in Lebanon in the 1950s as a nurse, and fell completely in love with the country, and with her Lebanese grandfather by extension.
Chloe felt intrigued by why her grandmother chose to stay in Lebanon for 10 years of war when she could have easily left.
“I find that it’s quite rare to show people who don’t want to leave a country, we always show those who want to leave,” said Chloe upon the release of the film. “It’s much easier in terms of scriptwriting. It’s very complicated to talk about the love you can have for a country… Because it’s not rational.”
However, the news about this is that the movie has been acquired for the U.S. by Dekanalog, and the distributor is aiming to release it theatrically on July 22.
“Skies of Lebanon” isn’t Mazlo’s first work revolving around Lebanon. She has also directed a short film by the name of “Deyrouth” (2010), discussing Chloe’s own journey in quest of her roots as she looks to address her identity problems.
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