By Chloe Rabinowitz — broadwayworld.com — Tricycle Logic, a Los Angeles-based film production and distribution company, has announced the theatrical release of the critically acclaimed and award-winning film “1982” which is scheduled to open in theaters beginning Friday, June 10th in New York at THE QUAD Cinema (34 West 13th Street), and on June 24th in Los Angeles (at Laemmle Royal and other locations), with a national rollout to follow throughout the summer.
“1982” is a life-affirming coming-of-age tale set at an idyllic school in Lebanon’s mountains on the eve of a looming invasion. It unfolds over a single day and follows an 11-year-old boy’s relentless quest to profess his love to a girl in his class. As the invasion encroaches on Beirut, it upends the day, threatening the entire country and its cohesion. Within the microcosm of the school, the film draws a harrowing portrait of a society torn between its desire for love and peace and the ideological schisms unraveling its seams. In his debut feature, director Oualid Mouaness delivers an ode to innocence in which he revisits one of the most cataclysmic moments in Lebanon’s history through the lens of a child and his vibrant imagination. The film demonstrates the complexities of love and war, and the resilience of the human spirit.
“1982” stars Mohamad Dalli (in his acting debut) and Lebanese superstar Nadine Labaki (Capernaum, Where Do We Go Now, Caramel) alongside an extraordinary ensemble cast of professional and non-professional actors. The film won the Cannes Film Festival’s youth sidebar Cannes Cinéphiles prize PRIX CANNES ECRANS JUNIORS 2021, the Toronto International Film Festival’s NETPAC AWARD, a FIPRESCI International Critics Prize at El-Gouna International Film Festival, and the UNICEF 2021 prize among numerous others. It was also Lebanon’s official submission to the 92nd Academy Awards and holds the Murex D’Or, Lebanon’s Best Feature Film honor of the last two years.
“1982” is the first film from Lebanon to address the polemic and politically sensitive 1982 war. The film’s theatrical release coincides with the 40th anniversary of the 1982 Lebanon War, which is on June 6th (the week of the film’s NY opening).
The filmmaker Oualid Mouaness said: “I’m immensely grateful that my film ‘1982’ will finally be available in US theaters. I set out to make a story that transcends the era during which it unfolds. It’s humbling to see prestigious art houses and theater chains nationwide program the film for their audiences in this climate. ‘1982’ was visually and aurally made with the cinema experience in mind. I hope its timely message will resonate long after the film is over.”
Oualid Mouaness is an award winning Lebanese-American writer, producer and director. Liberian born to Lebanese parents, Mouaness grew up between Beirut and Monrovia. His work traverses narrative and documentary feature films, music films, music videos and commercials. Mouaness has produced nine feature length films (docs & narratives): notably, the indie film “Kitchen Privileges” (SXSW 2000) that he co-produced and edited, the acclaimed documentary ‘RIZE’ (Sundance 2005) which was shortlisted for the Oscars in 2006, as well as the South African LAIFF Audience-award-winning documentary “I Am Thalente” (2015), and most recently the experiential documentary “Max Richter’s Sleep” (2020) that had its world premiere at IDFA 2019 and its North American premiere at Sundance 2020. His short film “The Rifle, The Jackal, The Wolf and the Boy” was shortlisted for the Oscars in 2017.
His straddling of life in diaspora with a window into life in Lebanon brings a heightened understanding and nuance to his work. He’s a Sundance Institute Fellow and has called Los Angeles home for over two decades. He completed his undergraduate studies in Journalism and Theatre in Beirut, and holds an MFA in Film from the Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts. “1982” is Oualid’s directorial feature film debut.
