Screening with short film Pioneer High.
Single, Married, Divorced is a contemporary take on the romantic comedy that examines four successful single women approaching their 40s in modern-day Beirut. Yasmina, Taleen, Layan, and Zina are smart, funny, and talented, and yet all they hear is endless grief from their families for focusing on career over marriage, and love over duty. Yasmina, the best make-up artist in Lebanon, travels the Middle East to create ‘fabulous’ looks for singers, actors, and brides, squeezing in time to see her Egyptian boyfriend on available weekends for romantic dinners in fancy hotels. Taleen, owns her own art gallery in Beirut and has no interest in settling down with one man. Layan, a well-known fashion designer, falls in love with a married man who promises to leave his family when the time is right. Finally, there is the hopeless romantic Zina, a beautiful and brilliant doctor who waits impatiently for Prince Charming to arrive on his white horse. Single, Married, Divorced celebrates female friendships and proves that true love is worth the wait.
FILMMAKERS
Elie Khalife (Director) studied cinema at the Geneva University of Art and Design (ESAV-HEAD). He wrote and co-directed with Alexandre Monnier two multi-award winning short films, “Taxi Service” (1996), “Merci Natex” (1998), and a feature film Yanoosak (2010). He produced and directed Van Express (2004) and a personal documentary Love & Cigarettes (2006). Elie Khalife is also the owner of the production house Taxi Films. He teaches filmmaking in many Lebanese Universities such as Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) and the University of Balamand (ALBA).
Pioneer High
Director: Suha Araj
2015 | US | English | 10 min | Regional Premiere
In 1969, seventeen-year-old Hala emigrates with her family from Palestine to Michigan and unwittingly starts a revolution at her new school by showing up in pants.
FILMMAKER
Suha Araj is a Palestinian-American filmmaker and educator. Her work explores the displacement of immigrant communities and her passion lies in bridging cultures. Her short “The Cup Reader,” shot in Palestine premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival 2013 and won the Next Great Filmmaker Award at the Berkshire International Film Festival and second place at the Baghdad International Film Festival. It also screened at Mizna’s 9th Film Festival in 2014.
PREMIER SPONSORS