Love 45
Fall Grants 2024 - Production Stage
Anas Khalaf / Feature Narrative / Syria, France, Switzerland, Qatar / 100 min / Original Language: Arabic, English, French / Interests: Drama, Romance, Comedy, War
Synopsis
Walid, an overweight Lebanese man, has been caught in a destructive spiral since teenagehood. Despite his brilliant and educated mind, he is alone and unhappy. In Beirut, Walid is the handyman at his uncle’s very posh tennis club. They regularly clash because of the grumpy attitude Walid adopts in all circumstances. Maya, a French humanitarian worker, arrives at the tennis club to ask for help. In the Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley that she supervises, she wants to build a tennis court and train the children there to help them overcome their war trauma. Walid’s uncle sees this as the perfect opportunity to send him away from the condemnatory looks of the bourgeois customers.
Despite his reluctance, Walid has little choice and must resolve to take the road towards the camp. His comings and goings between Beirut and the Bekaa intensify, giving rise to different encounters that encourage him to surpass himself. The caring confrontation with a psychologist, an unexpected budding love with Maya, and the bonds he forms with Laith, a young Syrian refugee very much affected by the war, gradually lead Walid to confront his own trauma and finally reconnect with himself.
Credits
- Director
- Anas Khalaf
- Screenwriter
- Anas Khalaf, Rana Kazkaz
- Producer
- Marine Vaillant
- Production Company
- Special Touch Studios (France), Synéastes Films
About the Director
Anas Khalaf is a Franco-Syrian filmmaker currently residing in Doha after fleeing Syria with his family in 2012 following the onset of the war in his home country. He graduated from the Normandy Business School. Together with his wife, Rana Kazkaz, they founded the production company Synéastes Films in 2010. They have collaborated on four short films and one feature film.
Contacts
-
Main Contact
Marine Vaillant
- Company:
- Special Touch Studios
- Email:
- mvaillant@specialtouchstudios.com