Parisienne

For her first film outside Lebanon, Danielle Arbid chose to go to France with her camera. In the guise of a falsely autobiographical movie (the director has been living in France since she was 17), "Parisienne" speaks about the unique freedom that someone can feel when arriving at a foreign country. Nonetheless, the film shows as well the inherent trouble in integrating a new culture. Lina has to forget the codes she knows to learn and to give way to those of a city like Paris. The emotions displayed by the film are remarkably authentic: at the whim of the encounters, Lina will go from fear to curiosity, from disappointment to love, from loneliness to joy. She will learn to go beyond her fears and she will discover that we can dare, assert herself and say no but also give up and go with the flow. She will learn to love France while the spectator takes delight in discovering the Paris from twenty five years ago. Manal Issa's performance and the rest of secondary characters that surround her make the movie sensitive, moving and highly realistic. Full review on our blog Los Indiscretos : https://losindiscretos.org/english/parisienne-2015-danielle-arbid/