Ebb & Flow
Fall Grants 2021 - Production Stage
Nay Tabbara / Short Narrative / Lebanon, Qatar / 20 min / Original Language: Arabic / Interests: Coming of age
Synopsis
‘Ebb & Flow’ is a coming-of-age short film set in Beirut, Lebanon, in the early 2000s. It is the story of Loulwa, a 14-year-old who has been dreaming of her first embrace with her school crush Sharif. With a push from her daring best friend Jana, Loulwa lies to her parents about her after-school activities and plans for the perfect date with him at the Beirut waterfront. Just when she’s finally about to have her dream come true, a loud bomb explodes nearby. Loulwa and Jana are forced to leave the date immediately and find their way home safely through the frantic dysfunctional war-like streets of post-explosion Beirut, experiencing all that the city throws at them—without unveiling their lie to their parents.
Credits
- Director
- Nay Tabbara
- Screenwriter
- Nay Tabbara
- Producer
- Isabelle Mecattaf, Hasan Hadi
About the Director
Nay is a Lebanese filmmaker based in New York, currently finishing her MFA in Filmmaking degree at NYU Tisch School of the Arts—where she also teaches Editing as an Adjunct Professor within the Graduate Film department. Before moving to New York, Nay built her on-set experience working as an assistant director on numerous award-winning pictures, most notably 'The Insult' by Ziad Doueiri (2017, Academy Award nominee). Born and raised in Beirut, Nay's stories centre around her upbringing and are inspired by her experience as a Lebanese woman existing within a largely hybrid society. She is a 2021 Sundance Uprise Grantee for her upcoming project 'Ebb & Flow'. Her most recent short film 'Frayed Roots' premiered at the 2020 Raindance Film Festival and has toured the circuit in several other Academy-Awards qualifying film festivals.