Lebanon’s recent years of crisis are heading to screens around the world in the form of a new anthology feature. Dubai-based distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has acquired global distribution rights to Disorder, a Lebanese film that weaves together four stories about life amid economic collapse, political paralysis and everyday resilience.
Executive produced by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Nadine Labaki and long-time collaborator Khaled Mouzanar, the project is curated by producer Bechara Mouzannar and Lebanese production house Unbranded. Rather than follow a single protagonist, Disorder takes a multi-voice approach, inviting different filmmakers to capture how the same national breakdown looks from very different streets and apartments.
The anthology brings together four shorts – The Group, Motherland, Don’t Panic and A Piece of Heaven – directed by Lucien Bourjeily, Bane Fakih, Wissam Charaf and Areej Mahmoud. Each episode dives into a particular corner of Lebanese life since 2019, from activist circles and broken institutions to families trying to protect their own bubble of normality as the country’s systems fray.
Front Row’s acquisition, announced ahead of the film’s premiere at Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival, signals strong confidence that the stories will connect beyond Lebanon’s borders. The company, which has previously backed high-profile Arab features and international titles for MENA, will handle world sales as well as regional distribution, positioning Disorder for a festival and arthouse run followed by platform deals.
For Labaki, who has already taken Lebanese narratives to Cannes and the Oscars with films like Capernaum, supporting Disorder is part of a broader commitment to amplifying younger voices. In published statements, she has described the film as a necessary, truthful account of the psychological impact of Lebanon’s collapse on a generation trying to navigate “many layers of injustice,” while Mouzanar has called it an exploration of “survivor’s art” – beauty pulled from chaos.
The cast list reflects the richness of Beirut’s independent scene, with performances from Manal Issa, Rodrigue Sleiman, Farah Shaer, Hanane Hajj Ali, Petra Serhal, Yara Abou Haidar, Said Serhan, Josef Akiki and stand-up comedian Chaker Bou Abdalla, who also co-wrote A Piece of Heaven. Behind the camera, familiar names include composer Zeid Hamdan, art director Sabine Sabbagh, cinematographers Mark Khalife and Julien Kai, and sound designers Emmanuel Zouki and Rana Eid.
In an era when news about Lebanon tends to focus on statistics and street clashes, Disorder offers something different: intimate, character-driven snapshots of what it means to live through slow-motion collapse. With Front Row now onboard, those snapshots are set to travel far beyond their original context – and may help reshape how international audiences understand the country behind the headlines.
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