THE WOMEN IN BLOCK “J”

Synopsis: In 1982, at a private school in the mountains of Lebanon, 11-year-old Wissam is intent on finding the courage to tell his classmate he loves her, as an air invasion reaches the capital Beirut and shatters the school’s calm. Wissam finds it difficult to comprehend the gravity of the impending violence. But for his teachers, Yasmine and Joseph, the jets in the sky signal something much graver.

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Director’s biography: Oualid Mouaness is a Lebanese producer, writer and director. He holds a Master’s degree in Writing and Directing from Florida State University and has directed the short films “Saint in the Sun” (2002) and “The Rifle, the Jackal, the Wolf, and the Boy” (2016), which was shortlisted for an Oscar in 2017. He has also produced music videos for David Bowie, Annie Lennox, Lana Del Rey and Justin Timberlake, amongst others.    

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First-time Screenwriter: Asmaa Al-Hadrami is a prominent actress in the Moroccan art scene. She graduated from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Art in Rabat, holds a diploma in Theater and Art Studies from Paris, and is one of the founders of the theater group “The Other Bank” (1996). She played key roles in dozens of theater creations and secondary roles in many cinematic and television films. “The Women in Block J” is her first experience as a screenwriter and she also performs one of the main characters in the movie (Amal).

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First-time Actress: Rim Fathi began theatre acting at the age of thirteen. In 2014, she had her first participation in a television series, followed by her cinematic debut in 2016 in the film “Volubilis” by Faouzi Bensaïdi, then another participation in the movie “Rahal” by French director Olivier Cosmak and produced by Mohamed Nadif. The latter trusted her high ability to perform her first major cinematic lead role in his film “Women in Block J”.