Lebanese Drama 1982, from writer/director
Oualid Mouaness, has won the prestigious NETPAC Award at the 2019 Toronto
International Film Festival.

Selected by a jury from the Network for
the Promotion of Asian Pacific Cinema (NETPAC), the jury remarked that the film
was selected “for its adventurous, imaginative style and subtle, confident
filmmaking, bravely juxtaposing and framing the universal innocence and charm
of youth within harrowing historical context.”

International filmmaker Oualid Mouaness, based in Los Angeles and
Beirut, is a Sundance Screenwriting Lab alum who has directed several shorts
including the acclaimed “The Rifle, the Jackal, the Wolf and
the Boy,” which was shortlisted for an 2017 Academy Award. He has an
accomplished history as a producer of award winning films (Rize) and
music videos for artists including David Bowie, Annie Lennox, Janet Jackson,
Katie Perry, Justin Timberlake and Lana Del Rey.

Said Mouaness, “Thank you very much to TIFF and NETPAC for
recognizing a film about such an important time in Lebanese and world history.
This film is about the resilience of humanity and the fact that love is
stronger than war. It is as relevant today as it was in 1982, and I am honored
by this acclaimed recognition.”

The film is set during the 1982 invasion
of Lebanon at a private school on the outskirts of Beirut, where 11-year-old
Wissam tries to tell a classmate about his crush on her, and his teachers, on
different sides of the political divide, try to mask their fears.

The film stars an ensemble cast of debut young actors and professional Lebanese actors led by filmmaker/actress Nadine Labaki, (Caramel, Capernaum, Where Do We Go Now?), with Rodrigue Sleiman (Stray Bullet, Heaven Sent), Aliya Khalidi, Said Serhan (Heaven Sent), Zeina Saab De Melero and Joseph Azoury.

1982 addresses a crucial
moment in Middle East wartime history from a fresh and layered perspective.It will next play in competition at the El
Gouna Film Festival later in September, where it will have its Middle East
premiere.

The film was produced by Tricycle Logic (US) in tandem with
Georges Schoucair’s Beirut-based Abbout Productions (Lebanon) and Mad Dog Films
(US). Additional producing entities are Barentsfilm, Boo Pictures, and Soapbox Films.

The film was produced by Oualid Mouaness,
Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Georges Schoucair, Myriam Sassine, and
Christopher Tricarico. Co-Producers are Louis Nader, Ingrid Lill H gtun,
Executive Producers are Rodney Adler, Jessie Creel, Anderson Hinsch, Candice
Abela Mikati, Fouad Mikati, Jorge Takla, Christopher Alender, David A. Smith
 

NETPAC is a pan-Asian,
worldwide film cultural organization that is considered the leading authority
on Asian and pan-Asian cinema. The NETPAC award is given at select
international film festivals to spotlight exceptional films and filmmaking
talent across the globe. Previous filmmakers honoured include the Phillippines’
Brilliante Mendoza, South Korea’s Kim Ki-duk and Sri Lanka’s Prasanna
Vithanage.